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© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

We present results demonstrating several beneficial effects on distributed fiber optic vibration sensing (DVS) functionality and performance resulting from utilizing standard single mode optical fiber (SMF) with femtosecond laser-inscribed equally-spaced simple scattering dots. This modification is particularly useful when using traditional single-wavelength amplitude-based coherent optical time domain reflectometry (C-OTDR) as sensing method. Local sensitivity is increased in quasi-distributed interferometric sensing zones which are formed by the fiber segments between subsequent pairs of the scattering dots. The otherwise nonlinear transfer function is overwritten with that of an ordinary two-beam interferometer. This linearizes the phase response to monotonous temperature variations. Furthermore, sensitivity fading is mitigated and the demodulation of low-frequency signals is enabled. The modification also allows for the quantitative determination of local temperature gradients directly from the C-OTDR intensity traces. The dots’ reflectivities and thus the induced attenuation can be tuned via the inscription process parameters. Our approach is a simple, robust and cost-effective way to gain these sensing improvements without the need for more sophisticated interrogator technology or more complex fiber structuring, e.g., based on ultra-weak FBG arrays. Our claims are substantiated by experimental evidence.

Details

Title
Enhanced Distributed Fiber Optic Vibration Sensing and Simultaneous Temperature Gradient Sensing Using Traditional C-OTDR and Structured Fiber with Scattering Dots
Author
Hicke, Konstantin 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Eisermann, René 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Chruscicki, Sebastian 1 

 Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM), Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, Germany 
 Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM), Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, Germany; Department High Voltage Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin (TUB), Einsteinufer 11, 10587 Berlin, Germany 
First page
4114
Publication year
2019
Publication date
2019
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
14248220
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2535569933
Copyright
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.