FBG Sensor Interrogation Research Articles

Accuracy of scanning interrogation of FBG sensors

Abstract Progress in the fibre optic technology spurred the development of optical fibre-based sensors. A successful fibre optics-based element for sensorial systems is fibre Bragg grating. It allows to read the measured value by the spectral shift of light, which is the variable with a good potential for accurate measurement. Various types of the interrogation of the light spectrum reflected from the measuring grating are discussed in this article and the work concentrates on the spectrum scanning that gives the good chances to diminish measuring errors by a proper choice of parameters. The focal point is the accuracy of establishing the correct value of the maximum reflectance wavelength. The significance of the noise in the photoelectric scanning signal for the measuring accuracy is analysed and the crucial factor is found in the minimizing the reflectance spectral width of the measuring grating and using the spectrum of the scanning light with the same or smaller spectral width. An important aspect is the relation of the maximal reflectance and the wavelength width of the measuring grating reflectance spectrum. The article also shows the potentiality of the apodized gratings for improving the scanning interrogation. A specific index apodization profile was analysed and its advantages are discussed.

Radio-frequency unbalanced M-Z interferometer for wavelength interrogation of fiber Bragg grating sensors.

The optical unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer (UMZI) has attracted significant interests for interrogation of FBG sensors owing to its excellent advantages in sensitivity, resolution, and demodulation speed. But this method is still limited to dynamic measurements due to its poor stability and reliability when used for quasi-static detections. Here, we propose for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, a radio-frequency unbalanced M-Z interferometer (RF-UMZI) for interrogation of FBG sensors, which, owing to its operation in an incoherent rather than a coherent regime, provides an ideal solution for the existing stability problem of the conventional UMZI, with remarkable features of adjustable resolution and potentially extremely high sensitivity. A dispersion compensation fiber (DCF) and single-mode fiber (SMF) with a small length difference are served as the two unbalanced arms of the RF interferometer. The induced differential chromatic dispersion transfers the wavelength shift of the FBG to the change of the RF phase difference between the two interferometric carriers, which ultimately leads to the variation of the RF signal intensity. An interrogation of a strain-turned FBG was accomplished and a maximum sensitivity of 0.00835 a.u./με was obtained, which can easily be further improved by more than two orders of magnitude through various fiber dispersion components. Finally, the stability of the interrogation was tested.

Characterization of FBG sensor interrogation based on a FDML wavelength swept laser

In this study, we develop an ultra-fast fiber Bragg grating sensor system that is based on the Fourier domain mode-locked (FDML) swept laser. A FDML wavelength swept laser has many advantages compared to the conventional wavelength swept laser source, such as high-speed interrogation, narrow spectral sensitivity, and high phase stability. The newly developed FDML wavelength swept laser shows a superior performance of a high scan rate of 31.3 kHz and a broad scan range of over 70 nm simultaneously. The performance of the grating sensor interrogating system using a FDML wavelength swept laser is characterized in both static and dynamic strain responses.

A method to measure reference strain in FBG strain sensor interrogation system involving actuators

AbstractA method for reference strain measurement for FBG strain sensor in the testing stage while applying strain using actuators like piezo translators or micro screw is introduced. Unlike conventional methods of surface mounting, in our method the strain gauge is affixed directly to the optical fibre, which allows it to use with systems where the strain is applied directly using actuators while testing the FBG sensing system. Different bonding techniques were tested and a comparison with the results from calculated values are presented. Since the contact area between the fibre and strain gauge is very small, a corrected gauge factor is calculated and is used to measure the strain transfer. As a demonstration of the developed method, the strain gauge is used as a reference in an edge filter based FBG sensors interrogation system, where the strain was applied using a micro screw. The measured strain using foil strain gauge affixed to the optical fibre and FBG sensor interrogation system are in close agreement. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 2658–2661, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22817

Multi-point interrogation of FBG sensors using cascaded flexible wavelength-division Sagnac loop filters

A simple optical signal demodulation technique is demonstrated for multi-point interrogation of fiber Bragg grating sensors. The wavelength-division responses of polarization-maintaining fiber Sagnac loop filters are flexibly controlled to interrogate the simultaneous optical intensity changes from the independent wavelength shifts of multiple fiber Bragg grating sensors. Experimental performance is also demonstrated to show the simultaneous detection of the separated FBG sensing signals by individual photo detectors.