Abstract
Continuously alternating loads and environmental temperature fluctuations can easily cause material aging and fatigue defects in some in-service infrastructures. In order to improve the load-bearing capacities of these infrastructures and prevent unexpected accidents, a flexible continuous detection system that can evaluate the health of these structural systems is needed. The detection system should have the advantages of integrated miniaturization, low cost, high stability and sensitivity, suitability for engineering applications, etc. A full-optical strain sensor based on tunable laser demodulation is designed in this paper. It uses a home-made control mainboard to monitor a 2425-T3 aluminum alloy during tensile and fatigue tests. The tensile test results indicate that the FBG sensor response correlates well with the strain measured using a strain gauge. Therefore, the load and strain can be both monitored via the FBG sensor response. The fatigue test results demonstrate that the FBG sensor presented is superior to the strain gauge and has better sensitivity and stability for vibration monitoring in complex environments. In this letter, we make full use of the FBG’s advantages including its small size and light weight to implement an integrated, miniaturized FBG sensor design with significant structural health monitoring applications.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig1_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig2_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig3_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig4_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig5_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig6_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig7_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig8_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11082-021-02800-7/MediaObjects/11082_2021_2800_Fig9_HTML.png)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bragg, W.: X-rays and crystal structure. Sci. Mon. 20(2), 115–121 (1925)
Daniel, B.,, Frizen, C.P.., Güemes, A.: Introduction to structural health monitoring. In: Structural Health Monitoring, pp. 13–43. ISTE (2006)
Dastmalchi, M., et al.: FBG-based matched filters for optical processing of RF signals. IEEE Photonics J. 4(3), 832–843 (2012)
Di, F., et al.: Design on FBG wavelength demodulation system with edge filter. In: Optical Fiber Sensors and Communication (2019)
Fernando, G.F.: Fibre optic sensor systems for monitoring composite structures. Reinf. Plast. 49(11), 41–49 (2005)
Fu, H., et al.: Ultra sensitive NH 3 gas detection using microfiber Bragg grating. Opt. Commun. 427, 331–334 (2018)
Guo, X., et al.: A portable sensor for in-situ measurement of ammonia based on near-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy. Opt. Lasers Eng. 115, 243–248 (2019)
Hill, K.O., Fujii, Y., Johnson, D.C., Kawasaki, B.S.: Photosensitivity in optical fiber waveguides: Application to reflection filter fabrication. Appl. Phys. Lett. 32(10), 647–649 (1978)
Hossain, K.M.: Fiber Bragg grating sensors for the detection of metal crack initiation by low cycle fatigue test (2012)
Jiang, S., et al.: Application of FBG strain sensing system in ship structure monitoring. Bandaoti Guangdian/semicond. Optoelectron. 38(2), 268–270 (2017)
Kahandawa, G.C., et al.: Use of FBG sensors for SHM in aerospace structures. Photonic Sens. 2, 203–214 (2012)
Kirkendall, C.K., Dandridge, A.: Overview of high performance fibre-optic sensing. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 37(18), 197–216 (2004)
Kouroussis, G., et al.: Edge-filter technique and dominant frequency analysis for high-speed railway monitoring with fiber Bragg gratings. Smart Mater. Struct. 25(7), 075029 (2016)
Li, L., et al.: Design of an enhanced sensitivity FBG strain sensor and application in highway bridge engineering. Photonic Sens. 4, 162–167 (2014)
Li, C., et al.: High-speed multi-pass tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer based on frequency-modulation spectroscopy. Opt. Express 26(22), 29330 (2018)
Li, N., et al.: A portable low-power integrated current and temperature laser controller for high-sensitivity gas sensor applications. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 89, 103103 (2018)
Lv, G.H., et al.: FBG temperature and pressure sensing system for hot water pipeline of petrochemical factory. In: 2008 1st Asia-pacific Optical Fiber Sensors Conference, Chengdu (2009)
Maaskant, R., et al.: Fiber-optic Bragg grating sensors for bridge monitoring. Cement Concr. Compos. 19(1), 21–33 (1997)
Meltz, G., Morey, W.W., Glenn, W.H.: Formation of Bragg gratings in optical fibers by a transverse holographic method. Opt. Lett. 14(15), 823–825 (1989a)
Meltz, G., Morey, W.W., Glenn, W.H.: Formation of Bragg gratings in optical fibers by transverse holographic method. Opt. Lett. 14(15), 823–825 (1989b)
Morey, W.W.: Fiber optic grating technology. In: Proceedings of Spie the International Society for Optical Engineering, vol. 2574 (1995)
Morey, W.W., Meltz, G., Glenn, W.H.: Fiber optic Bragg grating sensors. In: Proceedings of SPIE—The International Society for Optical Engineering, vol. 1169, p. 10 (1990)
Rao, Y.J.: Recent progress in applications of in-fibre Bragg grating sensors. Opt. Lasers Eng. 31(4), 297–324 (1999)
Ren, L., et al.: Application of FBG sensors in rolled concrete dam model. In: Proceedings of Spie the International Society for Optical Engineering, vol. 6174 (2006)
Ribeiro, A.B.L., et al.: Analysis of the reflective-matched fiber Bragg grating sensing interrogation scheme. Appl. Opt. 36(4), 934–939 (1997)
Song, H.S., Ju, W.J., Lee, J.J.: Optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) force reflection sensing system of surgical tool for minimally invasive surgery. In: 2014 IEEE 9th Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ICIEA), Hangzhou (2014)
Tam, H.Y.: Fibre-optics sensor networks for condition and structural health monitoring of railway systems. In: 16th Opto-electronics and Communications Conference, Kaohsiung (2011)
Tao, S., Dong, X., Lai, B.: A sensor for simultaneous measurement of displacement and temperature based on the Fabry-Pérot effect of a fiber Bragg grating. IEEE Sens. J. 17(2), 261–266 (2016)
Ye, X.W., Su, Y.H., **, P.S.: Statistical analysis of stress signals from bridge monitoring by FBG system. Sensors 18(2), 491 (2018)
Zang, Z., et al.: A novel low-cost turbidity sensor for in-situ extraction in TCM using spectral components of transmitted and scattered light. Measurement 160, 107838 (2020)
Zhang, Q., **ong, Z.: Crack detection of reinforced concrete structures based on BOFDA and FBG sensors. Shock. Vib. 2018(6), 1–10 (2018)
Zhang, Y., et al.: Thermal curing process monitoring of the composite material using the FBG sensor. IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng. 322(2), 022062 (2018)
Zhu, W., et al.: A high-precision wavelength demodulation method based on optical fiber Fabry–Perot tunable filter. IEEE Access 6, 45983–45989 (2018)
Zou, H., Liang, D., Jie, Z.: Dynamic strain measurement using two wavelength-matched fiber Bragg grating sensors interrogated by a cascaded long-period fiber grating. Opt. Lasers Eng. 50(2), 199–203 (2012)
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U1810129, U1610117, 11904252 and 52076145), State Key Laboratory of Applied Optics (SKLAO-201902), Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements Fund of Shanxi Province (201904D131025), Excellent Youth Academic Leader in Higher Education of Shanxi Province (2018), Key Research and Development Program of Shanxi Province of China (Grant Nos. 201803D31077 and 201803D121090), the Fund for Shanxi “1331 Project” Key Innovative Research Team (1331KIRT), Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province of China (No. 201801D221017) and the Fund for Shanxi Key Subjects Construction.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yu, J., Li, C., Qiu, X. et al. A full-optical strain FBG sensor for in-situ monitoring of fatigue stages via tunable DFB laser demodulation. Opt Quant Electron 53, 156 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-021-02800-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-021-02800-7