Design of an optical fiber sensor for linear thermal expansion measurement

✍ Scribed by H Golnabi

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 236 KB
• Volume: 34
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0030-3992
• DOI: 10.1016/s0030-3992(02)00033-6

✦ Synopsis

Design and operation of an optical ÿber device for temperature sensing and thermal expansion measurement are reported. The modulated intensity has been measured by using a pair of 450 m core ÿber, one acting as the source and the other one as receiving ÿber. In this design, the light intensity modulation is based on the relative motion of the optical ÿbers and a re ective coated lens. By using displacement calibration data for this sensor, the linear thermal expansion of the aluminum rod is determined. This sensor shows an average sensitivity of about 11:3 mV= • C for temperature detection and 7 m= • C for thermal expansion detection. Device resolution for a linear expansion measurement is about 3 m for a dynamic range of 600 m corresponding to a temperature change of 100 • C. The measured linear expansion results are checked against the expected theoretical ones and an agreement within ±2 m is noticed. The operation of this sensor was also compared with other types and some advantages are observed, which verify the capability of this design for such precise measurements.