Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten
One of the unique advantages of polymer optical fibres (POF) is that they can be used to measure very high strain values up to 100 % and beyond exceeding the strain limits of silica fibre-based sensor principles. In this paper the distributed strain measurement capabilities of POF based on backscatter change evaluation are summarized and distributed backscatter measurement technologies are intro-duced. Application examples in the structural health monitoring (SHM) field are presented: a promising approach is the integration into technical textiles for high-strain measurement in earthwork structures and crack detection in buildings. The potential of POF for future applications in SHM such as distributed relative humidity sensing is discussed.
We describe the fabrication of a polycarbonate (PC) micro-structured polymer optical fiber (mPOF) and the writing of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in it to enable strain and temperature measurements. We demonstrate the photosensitivity of a dopant-free PC fiber by grating inscription using a UV laser. We further show that PC Bragg gratings can be extended up to at least 3% without affecting the initial functionality of the micro-structured fiber. The response of PC FBGs to temperature up to 125°C is also investigated. Polycarbonate has good mechanical properties and its high temperatureresistance might extend the range of application of polymeric FBGs.