BAM Dissertationsreihe
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- optical fiber sensor (1) (entfernen)
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In this thesis, an alternative approach to the well-known optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) technique is presented. A thorough analysis regarding distributed backscatter measurement in optical fibres is provided and its prospects for optical fibre sensing applications are demonstrated and discussed. The measurement approach is referred to as incoherent optical frequency domain reflectometry (I-OFDR): the frequency response of the fibre under test is measured and transferred into its time domain equivalent using inverse Fourier transform. This general technique has been studied and used for the measurement of nonlinear scattering effects in optical fibres. The requirements, limitations and prospects for general backscatter measurement, however, are different and have not been studied in detail prior to this work. Distributed sensing using Rayleigh scattering and reflective events in the fibre is first demonstrated using I-OFDR with remarkable measurement resolution. The incoherent detection technique allows for measuring singlemode fibres as well as multimode fibres. The first part of this work deals with the theoretical analysis and optimized implementation of the frequency domain approach. Necessary signal processing and its impact on the time domain response are presented. Sources of deviation from the linearity of the I-OFDR system are identified and an optimized laboratory setup is introduced; the crucial impact of the source coherence is thoroughly discussed. Suitable system parameters for the I-OFDR approach are defined: the system dynamic range and sensitivity are determined. A technique to suppress the dynamic range-limiting signal originating from strong reflections in the fibre is suggested. It is demonstrated that the I-OFDR technique has advantages over OTDR in terms of implementation for high-resolution measurement, measurement accuracy and signal stability. These advantages and measurement possibilities specific to the frequency domain approach are utilized for spatially resolved sensing applications in the second part of this work: A low optical loss polymer optical fibre (POF) is for the first time studied and analyzed for distributed strain sensing. The backscatter level dependence on strain in the fibre can be used to detect and locate strained fibre sections. Also, a correlation algorithm is proposed and demonstrated to measure length changes along the fibre with mm-resolution by correlating the typical backscatter signature of this fibre type. The fibre type is analyzed in detail regarding cross-sensitivities to temperature, relative humidity as well as mode propagation influences. The proposed sensing principles in combination with the highresolution I-OFDR allow for promising distributed sensing applications. Special interest is expressed by the structural health monitoring (SHM) sector since the fibre can measure strain values exceeding 100 %. Another sensing technique, specific to I-OFDR, is proposed for quasi-distributed and dynamic measurement of length changes and optical power changes at reflective events along the fibre. Precise calculation of the positions and reflected powers of multiple reflections can be conducted in parallel from the measurement of a few sampling points of the complex-valued frequency response. That allows for measuring with an increased repetition rate up to 2 kHz or at μm-scale length changes resolution at lower measurement frequencies. The approach is demonstrated in the laboratory and in a field application by measuring the deformation of a masonry building on a seismic shaking table. The I-OFDR exhibits competitive performance for general high-resolution backscatter measurement and the proposed optical fibre sensor principles may have promising prospects in the structural health monitoring (SHM) sector.