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Research Progress and Applications of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2024 | Viewed by 4378

Special Issue Editors

Institute for Infocomm Research, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore 138632, Singapore
Interests: optical fiber sensors; multicore fiber sensors; distributed fiber sensors
Institute for Infocomm Research, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore 138632, Singapore
Interests: photonics and optics; infrastructure and asset integrity; sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Wuhan National Lab for Optoelectronics (WNLO), School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: fiber optics; optical fiber sensor; nonlinear fiber optics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Distributed optical fiber sensors (DOFSs) have attracted increasing attention from academia and industry in the past several decades. The growing demands in fields such as gas and oil, structural health monitoring, and geophysical science have accelerated the research and development of DOFSs with high sensing performance. However, DOFSs still encounter challenges in both upstream research and downstream applications. For example, innovative ideas are needed to achieve performance enhancements including high measurement accuracy, high spatial resolution, long sensing length and large dynamic sensing range. The widespread implementation of the DOFSs in industry applications is often hindered by costly interrogation systems. We hope to collect innovative ideas and schemes of DOFSs to address the challenges and to provide new opportunities.

This Special Issue will focus on the latest developments of DOFS systems and their applications, including advanced signal processing, innovative DOFS techniques and solutions.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Principles and schemes of innovative distributed optical fiber sensing techniques;
  • Novel distributed fiber sensing systems;
  • AI-assisted distributed optical fiber sensing and signal processing; 
  • Applications of distributed optical fiber sensors in hash environments;
  • Field trial results of advanced DOFSs for practical applications.

Dr. Hailiang Zhang
Dr. Dora Juan Juan Hu
Dr. Zhiyong Zhao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • optical fiber sensors
  • distributed optical fiber sensing
  • sensing systems
  • sensing signal processing
  • machine learning and artificial intelligence
  • dynamic sensing

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 4645 KiB  
Article
Decoupling of Temperature and Strain Effects on Optical Fiber-Based Measurements of Thermomechanical Loaded Printed Circuit Board Assemblies
by Tiago Maurício Leite, Cláudia Freitas, Roberto Magalhães, Alexandre Ferreira da Silva, José R. Alves, Júlio C. Viana and Isabel Delgado
Sensors 2023, 23(20), 8565; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23208565 - 18 Oct 2023
Viewed by 632
Abstract
This study investigated the use of distributed optical fiber sensing to measure temperature and strain during thermomechanical processes in printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing. An optical fiber (OF) was bonded to a PCB for simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain. Optical frequency-domain reflectometry [...] Read more.
This study investigated the use of distributed optical fiber sensing to measure temperature and strain during thermomechanical processes in printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing. An optical fiber (OF) was bonded to a PCB for simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain. Optical frequency-domain reflectometry was used to interrogate the fiber optic sensor. As the optical fiber is sensitive to both temperature and strain, a demodulation technique is required to separate both effects. Several demodulation techniques were compared to find the best one, highlighting their main limitations. The importance of good estimations of the temperature sensitivity coefficient of the OF and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the PCB was highlighted for accurate results. Furthermore, the temperature sensitivity of the bonded OF should not be neglected for accurate estimations of strains. The two-sensor combination model provided the best results, with a 2.3% error of temperature values and expected strain values. Based on this decoupling model, a methodology for measuring strain and temperature variations in PCB thermomechanical processes using a single and simple OF was developed and tested, and then applied to a trial in an industrial environment using a dynamic oven with similar characteristics to those of a reflow oven. This approach allows the measurement of the temperature profile on the PCB during oven travel and its strain state (warpage). Full article
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15 pages, 3699 KiB  
Article
π-FBG Fiber Optic Acoustic Emission Sensor for the Crack Detection of Wind Turbine Blades
by Qi Yan, Xingchen Che, Shen Li, Gensheng Wang and Xiaoying Liu
Sensors 2023, 23(18), 7821; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23187821 - 12 Sep 2023
Viewed by 740
Abstract
Wind power is growing rapidly as a green and clean energy source. As the core part of a wind turbine, the blades are subjected to enormous stress in harsh environments over a long period of time and are therefore extremely susceptible to damage, [...] Read more.
Wind power is growing rapidly as a green and clean energy source. As the core part of a wind turbine, the blades are subjected to enormous stress in harsh environments over a long period of time and are therefore extremely susceptible to damage, while at the same time, they are costly, so it is important to monitor their damage in a timely manner. This paper is based on the detection of blade damage using acoustic emission signals, which can detect early minor damage and internal damage to the blades. Instead of conventional piezoelectric sensors, we use fiber optic gratings as sensing units, which have the advantage of small size and corrosion resistance. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the system is doubled by replacing the conventional FBG (fiber Bragg grating) with a π-phase-shifted FBG. For the noise problem existing in the system, this paper combines the traditional WPD (wavelet packet decomposition) denoising method with EMD (empirical mode decomposition) to achieve a better noise reduction effect. Finally, small wind turbine blades are used in the experiment and their acoustic emission signals with different damage are collected for feature analysis, which sets the stage for the subsequent detection of different damage degrees and types. Full article
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12 pages, 4582 KiB  
Article
Spatially Modulated Fiber Speckle for High-Sensitivity Refractive Index Sensing
by Penglai Guo, Huanhuan Liu, Zhitai Zhou, Jie Hu, Yuntian Wang, Xiaoling Peng, Xun Yuan, Yiqing Shu, Yingfang Zhang, Hong Dang, Guizhen Xu, Aoyan Zhang, Chenlong Xue, Jiaqi Hu, Liyang Shao, Jinna Chen, Jianqing Li and Perry Ping Shum
Sensors 2023, 23(15), 6814; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23156814 - 31 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1037
Abstract
A fiber speckle sensor (FSS) based on a tapered multimode fiber (TMMF) has been developed to measure liquid analyte refractive index (RI) in this work. By the lateral and axial offset of input light into TMMF, several high-order modes are excited in TMMF, [...] Read more.
A fiber speckle sensor (FSS) based on a tapered multimode fiber (TMMF) has been developed to measure liquid analyte refractive index (RI) in this work. By the lateral and axial offset of input light into TMMF, several high-order modes are excited in TMMF, and the speckle pattern is spatially modulated, which affects an asymmetrical speckle pattern with a random intensity distribution at the output of TMMF. When the TMMF is immersed in the liquid analyte with RI variation, it influences the guided modes, as well as the mode interference, in TMMF. A digital image correlations method with zero-mean normalized cross-correlation coefficient is explored to digitize the speckle image differences, analyzing the RI variation. It is found that the lateral- and axial-offsets-induced speckle sensor can enhance the RI sensitivity from 6.41 to 19.52 RIU−1 compared to the one without offset. The developed TMMF speckle sensor shows an RI resolution of 5.84 × 10−5 over a linear response range of 1.3164 to 1.3588 at 1550 nm. The experimental results indicate the FSS provides a simple, efficient, and economic approach to RI sensing, which exhibits an enormous potential in the image-based ocean-sensing application. Full article
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16 pages, 6297 KiB  
Article
Damage Analysis of Segmental Dry Joint Full-Scale Prestressed Cap Beam Based on Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing
by Duo Liu, Shengtao Li, Joan R. Casas, Xudong Chen and Yangyang Sun
Sensors 2023, 23(7), 3781; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23073781 - 06 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1291
Abstract
Distributed fiber optic sensors (DFOS) can detect structural cracks and structural deformation with high accuracy and wide measurement range. This study monitors the segmental prestressed bent cap, assembled with a large key dry joint, based on optical fiber technology, and it allows the [...] Read more.
Distributed fiber optic sensors (DFOS) can detect structural cracks and structural deformation with high accuracy and wide measurement range. This study monitors the segmental prestressed bent cap, assembled with a large key dry joint, based on optical fiber technology, and it allows the comparison of its damaging process with that of a monolithic cast in place counterpart. The obtained results, comprising cross-section strain distributions, longitudinal strain profiles, neutral axis location, crack pattern, and the damage process, show that the DFOS technology can be successfully used to analyze the complex working stress state of the segmental beam with shear key joints, both in the elastic range and at the ultimate load, and to successfully identify the changing characteristics of the stress state of the segmental capping beam model when elastic beam theory no longer applies. The DFOS data confirm that the shear key joint, as the weak point of the segmental cap beam, results in the high stress concentration area, and the damage rate is higher than that of the cast-in-place beam. The accurate monitoring by the DFOS allows for the realization that the damage occurs at the premature formation of a concentrated compression zone on the upper part of the shear key. Full article
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