Vector fiber Bragg gratings accelerometer based on silicone compliant cylinder for low frequency vibration monitoring

Abstract

Vector accelerometer has attracted much attention for its great application potential in underground seismic signal measurement. We propose and demonstrate a novel vector accelerometer based on the three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) embedded in a silicone rubber compliant cylinder at 120° distributed uniformly. The accelerometer is capable of detecting the orientation of vibration with a range of 0°–360° and the acceleration through monitoring the central wavelength shifts of three FBGs simultaneously. The experimental results show that the natural frequency of the accelerometer is about 85 Hz, and the sensitivity is 84.21 pm/g in the flat range of 20 Hz–60 Hz. Through experimental calibration, the designed accelerometer can accurately obtain vibration vector information, including vibration orientation and acceleration. In addition, the range of resonant frequency and sensitivity can be expanded by adjusting the hardness of the silicone rubber materials. Due to the characteristics of small size and orientation recognition, the accelerometer can be applied to low-frequency vibration acceleration vector measurement in narrow spaces.