This thesis work deals with the development of three different categories of interrogation techniques for Fiber Bragg Grating based sensor networks. Such networks are used for structural health monitoring and other applications. A bulk grating based interrogation system is described first, which includes an optical source, switch, circulator, embedded controller, and software. The center wavelength determination technique employed is detailed and is shown to be highly accurate from test data. The comparison with resistance strain gauges is presented which shows that the system developed provides an accurate strain reconstruction. The system is also compared with a commercial optical spectrum analyzer and is found to exhibit good accuracy and fidelity. The system has been field tested on an aircraft structure with 14 sensors spread over 4 channels. Strain data reconstruction from these tests is shown to accurately reproduce the loading conditions. A second system developed is based on the matched filter technique using a mechanical fiber stretcher; the details of this system are presented with a mathematical treatment of the technique. The design of the fiber stretcher is also described. This design is regarded to be novel since it tries to provide large interrogation bandwidths using a parallel topology. The results of tests have shown good resolution and comparative tests with resistance strain gauges have shown accurate reproduction of strain. Finally, an interrogation system based on a wavelength tunable source is presented. This system is a precursor to a time division multiplexed interrogation system, which has also been described. Three laser configurations have been set up and characterized. The laser sweep tests have been performed on two configurations and a sensor grating reconstruction test has also been carried out.

The different topics covered in this thesis include photosensitivity in germanosilicate fibers/glasses and application of fiber Bragg grating sensors in simultaneous strain and temperature discrimination. Fiber Bragg Gratings are wavelength dispersive refractive index structures manufactured through ultra-violet (UV) exposure of optical fibers. Their applications range from wavelength division multiplexing filters, dispersion compensators and fiber laser resonators for telecommunication applications to different types of point or distributive sensors for a variety of applications. One aim of this thesis has been to understand the mechanism of photosensitivity in germanosilicate fibers/preforms. Studies undertaken in this part of the thesis include thermal dynamics of Fiber Bragg Gratings and nano-indentation on ultra-violet irradiated germanosilicate glass preforms. An interesting, periodic appearance of a new peak has been observed in the reflected spectrum of Bragg grating inscribed in a germanosilicate fiber during thermal treatment. The new peak occurs on the longer wavelength side of the spectrum during heating and on the shorter wavelength side during cooling, following an identical reverse dynamics. A commercial grating with 99.9% reflectivity also shows a similar decay dynamics. The observed temperature induced distortion in refractive index modulation profile has been understood in the light of compaction-densification model. It is proposed that during the fabrication process of a grating, the modulation in the thermal expansion coefficient brought about by the interference fringes results in a non-uniform expansion throughout the grating length which in turn results in the distortion of the refractive index profile with increase/decrease in temperature. Since the reflection spectrum of a grating can be approximated as the Fourier transform of the refractive index profile, any distortion in the index profile results in the observed anomalous behaviour in the reflection spectrum. Nano-indentation studies have been performed to measure the changes in mechanical properties of a glass preform subjected to different levels of ultra-violet exposure. The results reveal that short term exposure leads to an appreciable increase in the Young’s modulus suggesting the densification of the glass, confirming the compaction-densification model. However, on prolonged exposure, the Young’s modulus decreases, which provides the first direct evidence of dilation in the glass leading into the Type IIA regime. The present results rule out the hypothesis that continued exposure leads to an irreversible compaction and prove that index modulation regimes are intrinsic to the glass matrix. In the second part of the thesis, three different schemes have been proposed for the use of Fiber Bragg Gratings as strain-temperature discriminating sensors: (a) The first method is based on the measurement of the different characteristic wavelength shifts of two types of gratings. Strain and temperature sensitivities of a Type I Bragg grating (G1) in germania doped silica fiber, fabricated under normal conditions, and zero strain, are compared with that of a Bragg grating inscribed under pre-strained condition (G2). Experimental results show that both, strain and temperature sensitivities of G1 and that of G2 are different. Based on this study, we have proposed an approach which enables simultaneous discrimination of axial strain and temperature. (b) In the second method, a single sensing element has been used to encode strain and temperature into an additional parameter other than the wavelength shift. The thermal out-diffusion of germanium from the core of a photosensitive fiber under elevated temperature is exploited to form a Fabry-Perot filter with a single Fiber Bragg Grating. The filter is fabricated using the standard phase-mask technique and one-time exposure. Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis is used to measure the out-diffusion. The filter is used as a sensor for simultaneous measurement and discrimination of strain and temperature. The proposed technique, where a single grating is used to discriminate the parameters, provides a large advantage over other existing methods. (c) In the third method, a compact design based on cross-wire arrangement of Fiber Bragg Gratings having identical Bragg resonance and different reflectivity is proposed for simultaneously sensing strain (uniaxial) and temperature. Two gratings are assembled orthogonal to each other on an aluminium base. The cross-wire design allows the two sensors to experience the same temperature but different strain. The gratings are identified by their respective reflectivity and, strain and temperature are resolved from the shift in Bragg wavelength. The proposed design exploits the fact that strain is a vector and temperature is a scalar parameter. This sensor has wide industrial application in discriminating strain from temperature effects.

In this thesis, we explore the four aspects of fiber Bragg grating sensors: mathematical modeling of Fiber Bragg Grating response/spectral characteristics, fabrication using phase mask, application and interrogation. Applications of fiber Bragg gratings, also known as in-fiber gratings, with emphasis on their sensing capabilities, interrogation of an array of sensors and their performance in structural health monitoring scenario are documented. First, we study the process of photosensitivity phenomenon in glasses, in particular GeO2:SiO2 glasses. For mathematical modeling we consider the 1-D refractive index profile along the propagation axis of an optical fiber drawn from the preform of such glasses. These 1-D index structures exhibit a bandgap for propagation along the fiber axis. We show how the bandgap is dependent on the two structural parameters: index periodicity and effective refractive index. The mathematical model provides the characteristics of three sensor parameters -resonance wavelength also known as the Bragg wavelength (λB ), filter bandwidth (ΔλB ), and reflectivity (R). We show that the evolution of the index structure in germanosilicate glasses is dependent on the inscription parameters such as exposure time, intensity of the laser used for inscribing, the interference pattern, and coherence of the laser system. In particular, a phase mask is used as the diffffacting element to generate the required interference pattern, that is exposed on the photosensitive fiber. We present a mathematical model of the electromagnetic diffraction pattern behind the phase mask and study the effect of the limited coherence of the writing laser on the interference pattern produced by the diffracting beams from the mask. Next, we demostrate the sensing capabilities of the fiber Bragg gratings for measuring strain, temperature and magnetic fields. We report linearity of 99.7% and sensitivity of 10.35pm/◦C for the grating temperature sensor. An array of gratings assigned with non-overlapping spectral windows is inscribed in a single fiber and applied for distributed sensing of structural health monitoring of an aircraft’s composite air-brake panel. The performance of these sensors is compared with the industry standard resistance foil gauges. We report good agreement between the two gauges (FBG and RSG). In some applications it is more desirable to know the spectral content, rather than the magnitude of perturbation. Fiber Bragg gratings sensors can be used to track events that occur in a very small span of time and contain high frequencies. Such applications demand very high speed wavelength demodulation methods. We present two interrogation techniques: wavelength-shift time-stamping (WSTS) and reflectivity division multiplexing (RDM). WSTS interrogation method employs the multiple threshold-crossing technique to quantize the sensor grating fluctuations and in the process produces the time stamps at every level-cross. The time-stamps are assembled and with the a priori knowledge of the threshold levels, the strain signal is reconstructed. The RDM methodology is an extension of the WSTS model to address multiple sensors. We show that by assigning unique reflectivities to each of the sensors in an array, the time-stamps from each of the sensors can be tagged. The time-stamps are collected by virtue of their corresponding pulse heights, and assembled to reconstruct the strain signal of each of the array sensor. We demonstrate that the two interrogation techniques are self-referencing systems, i.e., the speed at which the signals are reconstructed is instantaneous or as fast as the signal itself.

The objective of this thesis is to study of optical effects, arising in the form of non-uniform waveguide structure, complicated refractive index profiles or due to pulse propagation in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical communication systems. These effects are important and critically influence the performance of DWDM optical systems. A comprehensive survey of current literature on optical effects due to nonuniform optical structure and nonlinear optical effects is first done, showing their advantages and disadvantage in optical communication systems. A survey on methods of optical waveguide analysis is also done. The main contribution has been made to three main aspects of the problem : Accurate analysis of uniform/non-uniform optical waveguides with arbitary refractive index profiles Pulse propagation and distortion in DWDM Raman amplification systems. Use of non-uniform FBG to compensate for pulse distortion We study several existing analytical techniques developed so far for analyzing the mode of non-uniform optical waveguide structures. Later, we verify the analytical results by finite element method (FEM). The convergence study is also carried out. A new computational technique is proposed modifying the finite element method to analyze complex refractive index profiles required for the analysis, namely single mode step index profile, multi clad fiber, W -profile, chirp profile etc. An accuracy of 10−4 in the calculation of propagation constant/eigen-value is demonstrated. Dispersion characteristics of optical fibers w.r.t. different profile parameters is evaluated. A modification to scalar BPM is proposed and applied to study the effects of inhomogeneities along the propagation direction. The applicability and accuracy of the method is tested using integrated optic waveguide devices, namely, graded index slab waveguide. The proposed BPM uses Fourier decomposition of the transverse field. Coupled mode theory (CMT) of optical waveguides in non-homogeneous optical medium is applied to study the interaction of lightwaves propagation together such as in a DWDM system. The BPM results is verified by CMT. The inhomogeneous waveguide theory is extended to study pulse propagation in DWDM optical communication system. Nonlinear optical effects are an important aspects of DWDM systems with fiber Raman amplifier. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is necessary to study these nonlinear optical effects as other conventional methods are not suitable here. Here, we discuss DWDM optical communication systems due to nonlinearity in the form of SRS effect. In case of FRA, we study the various kinds of fiber profile design parameters, for the purpose to achieve and extend the flat gain bandwidth over the EDFA window. We also propose and study, a new bi-directional optical fiber transmission scheme with various constraints, using Raman amplification process with and without pump depletion. Our scheme, provides an advantage like high SNR, low pump induced noise, for long-haul communication link. We find that, there is a quite significant crosstalk and power coupling among the dense DWDM channels but earlier discussed BPM fails to account for possible interference effects among the channels. To reduce the harmful nonlinear optical effects like four wave mixing (FWM), we need to deploy a high chromatic dispersion fiber, which will ultimately lead to high pulse walk-off rate among the DWDM channels; hence for high bit rate long haul systems, walk-off effect can not be ignored. Application of FDTD provided an improved insight into the effect of GVD on stimulated Raman scattering crosstalk than different modulation techniques and line codes. It is shown through analysis that pulse walk-off phenomena may distort the data asymmetrically; especially for case of wide-band DWDM transmission system. Hence, the pulse walk-off effect should be considered in future systems containing optical amplifier. It is shown, that large walk-off rate may reduce the crosstalk among DWDM channels but tends to increase the asymmetric pulse distortion. Data may lose due to high walk-off effect. We also investigate channel addition/removal process in DWDM fiber Raman amplifier. We also demonstrate that the pulse walk-off effect tends to lead significantly to positive chirp for higher frequency channels. This feature can be exploited to overcome the chromatic dispersion effects in DWDM transmission systems. Pulse walk-off induced chirp, can be compensated by using the nonuniform fiber Bragg grating (NUFBG). The CMT due to periodic perturbation of the circular cylindrical waveguide structures is applied here. Here, we discuss the function of fiber Bragg grating as a transmission versus reflecting grating filter. We also discuss, FBG application to gain flattening of an EDFA window as well as how the group velocity dispersion (GVD) will be affected with bandwidth and coupling coefficient. We develop a new analytical technique to estimate the bandwidth of FBG based optical system. Finally, we investigate the dispersion compensation properties, pulse distortion, peak reflectivity analysis in uniform/non-uniform FBG due to an uniform/non-uniform incoming signal. More complicated refractive index profile can significantly reduce the GVD as well as side lobes intensity. Dispersion characteristic due to an arbitrary refractive index profile is discussed in details for the case of non-uniform FBG. Thus, we concluded that wide band DWDM optical communication system need to closely take into account various inhomogeneities and nonlinearities of optical fibers w.r.t. wave and pulse propagation.

Doctorat en sciences appliquées / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

No description available.

Spectrally-based fiber optic sensors are a rapidly maturing technology capable of sensing several environmental parameters in environments that are unfitting to electrical sensors. However, the sensor interrogation systems for this type of sensors are not yet fit to replace conventional sensor systems. They lack the speed, compact size, and usability necessary to move into mainstream test and measurement. The Fiber Sensor Integrated Monitor (FSIM) technology leverages rapid optical components and parallel hardware architecture to move these sensors across the research threshold into greater mainstream use. By dramatically increasing speed, shrinking size, and targeting an interface that can be used in large-scale industrial interrogation systems, spectrally-based fiber optic sensors can now find more widespread use in both research labs and industrial applications. The technology developed in this thesis was demonstrated by producing two advanced interrogators: one that was one half the size of commercially available systems, and one that accelerated live spectral capture by one thousand times – both of which were operated by non-developers with little training.

In this thesis work, a systematic quantitative study has been undertaken, on the performance of etched fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors in the investigation of surface molecular adsorption in real-time; it is shown that the limit of detection (LOD) of FBGs etched below 2 microns diameter, is better compared to prominent optical label-free molecular sensing techniques such as Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). Novel fiber optic sensors based on FBG and etched FBG with various nano materials (polyelectrolytes, carbon nanotubes, hydrogel, metals and chalcogenides) coated on the surface of the core or cladding, have been proposed for sensing multi parameters such as pH, protein, humidity, gas, strain, temperature, and light etc. Besides being reproducible and repeatable, the proposed methods are fast, compact, and highly sensitive. A novel optical instrument has also been developed to measure angular deviation, binocular deviation and refractive index of glass slabs, and liquids, based on a shadow casting technique. This method uses the deviation in the geometrical shadow cast by a periodic dot pattern trans-illuminated by a distorted light beam from the transparent test specimen relative to a reference pattern.

Ce manuscrit présente une méthode d’imagerie quantitative et sans état de référence, de défauts de corrosion d’une plaque mince, exploitant de manière passive un réseau embarqué de capteurs d’ondes élastiques guidées. Les applications visées sont le contrôle santé intégré (SHM) de structures critiques qui amènent de fortes contraintes à la fois d’intrusivité des capteurs et de fiabilité du diagnostic. Une solution prometteuse, permettant de multiplier la densité de points de mesure sans augmenter l’intrusivité du système, est offerte par les réseaux de Bragg sur fibre optique (FBG). Toutefois, contrairement aux transducteurs piézoélectriques (PZT) classiquement employés en SHM, les FBG ne permettent pas d’émettre d’ondes élastiques. L’idée consiste à utiliser des méthodes dites « passives » permettant de retrouver la fonction de Green entre deux capteurs à partir du bruit ambiant, naturellement présent dans la structure, mesuré simultanément entre ces deux capteurs. Nous étudions dans ce manuscrit deux méthodes passives : la corrélation de bruit et le filtre inverse passif. Nous verrons que ce dernier a plus de potentiel lorsqu’il est couplé à l’imagerie par tomographie. Différents algorithmes de tomographie sont évalués par simulation numérique puis lors d’expériences comparatives actives et passives à l’aide d’un réseau de PZT. Afin de rendre la tomographie passive robuste, nous présentons une méthode clé de détection de temps de vol, basée sur une représentation temps-fréquence. Enfin, nous décrivons une première démonstration expérimentale de mesures passives par FBG qui laisse à penser que la tomographie passive par FBG est prometteuse. / This manuscript presents a baseline-free quantitative method for the imaging of corrosion flaws present in thin plates. This method only requires an embedded guided waves sensors network in a fully passive way. The field ofapplications are Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of critical structures with heavy constrains on both sensors intrusiveness and diagnostic reliability. A promising solution allowing to increase the number of measurement points without increasing the intrusiveness of the system is provided by the Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs). However, unlike piezoelectric transducers generally used in SHM, the FBGs cannot emit elastic waves. The idea consists in using passive methods in order to retrieve the Green function from elastic diffuse fields - naturally present in structures - measured simultaneously between two sensors. In this manuscript, two passive methods are studied: the ambient noise correlation and the passive inverse filter. It is shown that the latter gives better results when coupled with tomography. Several tomography algorithms are assessed with numerical simulations and then applied to active and passive datasets measured by a PZT network. In order to make passive tomography robust, a time of flight identification method is proposed, based on a time-frequency representation. Finally, a novel experimental demonstration of passive measurements with FBGs only is presented, suggesting high potential for FBGs passive tomography.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-12T20:27:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LUCAS HERMANN NEGRI.pdf: 2286573 bytes, checksum: 5c0e3c77c1d910bd47dd444753c142c4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work presents computational methods to process data from electrical impedance spectroscopy and fiber Bragg grating interrogation in order to characterize the evaluated samples. Estimation and classification systems were developed, by using the signals isolatedly or simultaneously. A new method to adjust the parameters of functions that describes the electrical impedance spectra by using particle swarm optimization is proposed. Such method were also extended to correct distorted spectra. A benchmark for peak detection algorithms in fiber Bragg grating interrogation was performed, including the currently used algorithms as obtained from literature, where the accuracy, precision, and computational performance were evaluated. This comparative study was performed with both simulated and experimental data. It was perceived that there is no optimal algorithm when all aspects are taken into account, but it is possible to choose a suitable algorithm when one has the application requirements. A novel peak detection algorithm based on an artificial neural network is proposed, being recommended when the analyzed spectra have distortions or is not symmetrical. Artificial neural networks and support vector machines were employed with the data processing algorithms to classify or estimate sample characteristics in experiments with bovine meat, milk, and automotive fuel. The results have shown that the proposed data processing methods are useful to extract the data main information and that the employed data fusion schemes were useful, in its initial classification and estimation objectives. / Neste trabalho são apresentados métodos computacionais para o processamento de dados produzidos em sistemas de espectroscopia de impedância elétrica e sensoriamento a redes de Bragg em fibra óptica com o objetivo de inferir características das amostras analisadas. Sistemas de estimação e classificação foram desenvolvidos, utilizando os sinais isoladamente ou de forma conjunta com o objetivo de melhorar as respostas dos sistemas. Propõe-se o ajuste dos parâmetros de funções que modelam espectros de impedância elétrica por meio de um novo algoritmo de otimização por enxame de partículas, incluindo a sua utilização na correção de espectros com determinadas distorções. Um estudo comparativo foi realizado entre os métodos correntes utilizados na detecção de pico de sinais resultantes de sensores em fibras ópticas, onde avaliou-se a exatidão, precisão e desempenho computacional. Esta comparação foi feita utilizando dados simulados e experimentais, onde percebeu-se que não há algoritmo simultaneamente superior em todos os aspectos avaliados, mas que é possível escolher o ideal quando se têm os requisitos da aplicação. Um método de detecção de pico por meio de uma rede neural artificial foi proposto, sendo recomendado em situações onde o espectro analisado possui distorções ou não é simétrico. Redes neurais artificiais e máquinas de vetor de suporte foram utilizadas em conjunto com os algoritmos de processamento com o objetivo de classificar ou estimar alguma característica de amostras em experimentos que envolveram carnes bovinas, leite bovino e misturas de combustível automotivo. Mostra-se neste trabalho que os métodos de processamento propostos são úteis para a extração das características importantes dos dados e que os esquemas utilizados para a fusão destes dados foram úteis dentro dos seus objetivos iniciais de classificação e estimação.