Non-Destructive Measurements In Advanced Composite Materials And Structures Using A Fiber Optic Sensing System

Ian Aeby

doi:10.1117/12.948897

16 January 1989 Non-Destructive Measurements In Advanced Composite Materials And Structures Using A Fiber Optic Sensing System

Ian Aeby

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 0986, Fiber Optic Smart Structures and Skins; (1989) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.948897
Event: O-E/Fiber LASE '88, 1988, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

This paper describes the implementation of a distributed fiber optic sensing system for monitoring strain, temperature and absorbed moisture at multiple discrete locations throughout the volume of an organic matrix composite structure. The system employs a network of passive fiber optic sensors fabricated along a continuous single or dual channel waveguide that is embedded within the composite part during manufacture. The single channel sensor networks are interrogated by a conventional Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) while the dual channel networks are operated as coupled mode systems. In both cases, physical information is encoded as relative changes in the amplitude of the signal returned from individual sensors. Operational theory, design and experimentally observed characteristics of each of the sensor types as well as the overall system are presented. Distributed sensors capable of measuring strain in the range of 1.8 microstrain to tens of millistrain, temperature from zero to 170°C with one tenth of a degree C resolution and absorbed moisture from zero to two weight percent at up to ten discrete locations have been achieved. Theoretical extrapolation of existing data indicate that as many as 140 sensors can be fabricated along a single sensor fiber.

Citation Download Citation

Ian Aeby "Non-Destructive Measurements In Advanced Composite Materials And Structures Using A Fiber Optic Sensing System", Proc. SPIE 0986, Fiber Optic Smart Structures and Skins, (16 January 1989); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.948897

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