Search Results (15)

The underground sewage pipeline is one of the lifeline projects of the city. The pipeline temperature is one of the important influencing factors for the safe operation of the underground sewage pipeline. This study is based on the sewage pipeline project on Jianning Road in Nanjing; the sewage pipeline temperature monitoring experiment was conducted first. The optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR) technology was used to monitor the sewage pipeline temperature. The numerical simulation method was also incorporated to study the variations in sewage pipeline temperature. The optical fiber monitoring data for the underground sewage pipeline temperature were collected, and the spatiotemporal distribution of the underground sewage pipeline temperature was explored. The results show that the underground sewage pipeline temperature is continuously rising, and the rate of increase is slow. The maximum temperature change is 0.55 °C. The numerical simulation results are consistent with the trend of the measured results. The findings will provide a valuable reference for further research on sewage pipeline temperature. Full article

Optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) is a widely used method for measuring optical lengths to backscattering points in optical fibers and integrated optical chips. However, its application for measuring absolute distances in other media, including free space, remains insufficiently studied. This work aims to solve two main challenges in developing a free-space distance measurement method based on OFDR. The first one is the adaptation of the standard OFDR method to air-based measurements, considering the complex and/or atypical composition of the optical line, including the combination of fiber and air, as well as differing chromatic dispersion. The second task is the calibration of the reflectometer to ensure high measurement accuracy. The article proposes a mathematical framework for eliminating the influence of chromatic dispersion, based on signal transformation and the introduction of an equivalent phase of the reference interferometer. The method was verified experimentally. The experimental setup included an OFDR system, a collimator, and a corner reflector movable along a 2-m rail. An important result is the development and testing of a dispersion compensation method, which eliminated peak broadening in the trace as the distance increased, maintaining its width at a level of tens of microns. Through calibration using an interferometric fringe-counting method, a frequency-to-distance conversion coefficient was determined, ensuring measurement accuracy up to 2 μm. Thus, the study demonstrates the feasibility of adapting OFDR for precise distributed distance measurements in free space and in complex or otherwise non-standard structured environments, significantly expanding the application scope of the technology. Full article

This study investigates the influence of optical loss induced by the macro-bending of optical fibers on the signal quality of an optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR) system. First, the finite element software COMSOL 5.3 was used to perform numerical simulations of the optical loss of single-mode fibers under different bending radii. The simulations revealed that when the bending radius is relatively small, the optical loss exhibits oscillation as the bending radius varies. Next, an optical backscatter reflectometer (OBR) was employed to measure the optical loss of the optical fiber under different bending radii and numbers of bending loops. The experimental results showed good consistency with the simulation results, and the variation law of optical loss under different bending radii and numbers of bending loops was clarified. An OFDR strain demodulator was used to demodulate the strain signals under loaded conditions with different fiber bending radii and numbers of bending loops. It was found that when the cumulative optical loss increases to a certain threshold, the demodulated signal quality degrades significantly—this confirms that macro-bending loss directly impacts the SNR of OFDR output signals. The findings of this study provide practical guidance for the bending-oriented deployment of optical fiber sensors, which was successfully validated through a real-world structural strain monitoring case. Full article

In recent years, flexible pressure sensors have garnered significant attention. However, the development of large-area, low-cost, and easily fabricated flexible pressure sensors remains challenging. We designed a flexible fiber optic pressure sensor for contact force detection based on the principle of backward Rayleigh scattering using a single-mode optical fiber as the sensing element and polymer PDMS as the encapsulation material. To enhance the sensor’s sensitivity and stability, we optimized its structural design, parameters, and fabrication process and measured the fiber strain using an optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR). The results showed that the sensor achieved a high sensitivity of 6.93247 με/kPa with a PDMS concentration ratio of 10:1, a curing time of 2 h, and a substrate thickness of 5 mm. The sensor demonstrated excellent linearity and repeatability in static performance tests and was successfully used to monitor the plantar pressure distribution in real time. This flexible fiber optic pressure sensor can be developed via a simple fabrication process, has a low cost, and has high sensitivity, highlighting its potential applications in smart wearables and medical diagnostics. Full article

In this review, we summarize the latest advances in the design of optical frequency-domain reflectometers (OFDRs), digital signal processing, and sensors based on special optical fibers. We discuss state-of-the-art approaches to improving metrological characteristics, such as spatial resolution, SNR, dynamic range, and the accuracy of determining back reflection coefficients. We also analyze the latest achievements in the OFDR-based sensors: the accuracy of spatial localization of the impact, the error in detecting temperatures, deformation, and other quantities, and the features of separate measurement of various physical quantities. We also pay attention to the trend of mutual integration of frequency-domain optical reflectometry methods with time-domain optical reflectometry, which provides completely new sensing possibilities. We believe that this review may be useful to engineers and scientists focused on developing a lab setup, complete measurement instrument, or sensing system with specific requirements. Full article

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a network analysis optical frequency domain reflectometer (NA-OFDR) for distributed temperature measurements at high spatial (down to ≈3 cm) and temperature resolution. The system makes use of a frequency-stepped, continuous-wave (cw) laser whose output light is modulated using a vector network analyzer. The latter is also used to demodulate the amplitude of the beat signal formed by coherently mixing the Rayleigh backscattered light with a local oscillator. The system is capable of attaining high measurand resolution (≈50 mK at 3-cm spatial resolution) thanks to the high sensitivity of coherent Rayleigh scattering to temperature. Furthermore, unlike the conventional optical-frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR), the proposed system does not rely on the use of a tunable laser and therefore is less prone to limitations related to the laser coherence or sweep nonlinearity. Two configurations are analyzed, both numerically and experimentally, based on either a double-sideband or single-sideband modulated probe light. The results confirm the validity of the proposed approach. Full article

We describe a method for reducing the cost of optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR) hardware by replacing two reference channels, including an auxiliary interferometer and a gas cell, with a single channel. To extract useful information, digital signal processing methods were used: digital frequency filtering, as well as empirical mode decomposition. It is shown that the presented method helps to avoid the use of an unnecessary analog-to-digital converter and photodetector, while the OFDR trace is restored by the equal frequency resampling (EFR) algorithm without loss of high resolution and with good measurement repeatability. Full article

Mastering the strain transfer mechanism in distributed fiber optic (DFO) sensors holds the key to analyzing strain measurement errors from DFO sensing systems. However, the impact of the monitored structure’s strain distribution on the strain transfer mechanism in DFO sensors has often been overlooked in the existing research. To address this issue, a strain transfer model of surface-bonded DFO sensors with multilayered structures was established based on the shear lag theory. The closed-form solutions of the strain transfer coefficient of DFO sensors subjected to uniform, parabolic, single-linear gradient, and bilinear gradient strains were obtained. With a high-accuracy optical frequency-domain reflectometer (OFDR), the theoretical model was validated by laboratory tests. Upon parametric analysis, suggestions were further offered about designing and installing DFO sensors. Full article

Subjected to the relentless impacts of typhoons and rough seas, offshore wind turbines’ structures, particularly the tower, foundation, and blade, are at constant risk of damage. Full-field strain monitoring helps to discover potential structural defects, thereby reducing disasters caused by overall structural failure. This study introduces a novel method for assessing strain and temperature fields on these kinds of 3D surfaces of cylindrical structures. The method harnesses the capabilities of a high spatial resolution (0.65 mm) Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometer (OFDR)-based Distributed Optical Fiber Sensor (DOFS) in conjunction with a unique helical wiring layout. The core process begins with mapping the fiber optic path onto a plane corresponding to the unfolded cylinder. Fiber optic signals are then differentiated on this plane, deriving a two-dimensional strain distribution. The plane strain field is subsequently projected onto the 3D side of the cylinder. An experiment was carried out in which a 3.5 m long optical fiber was helically wound with a 10 mm pitch on the surface of a cantilever beam of a cylinder shell with a diameter of 36 mm and a length of 300 mm. The experiment collected about 5400 measurement points on the cylindrical surface of 340 cm², approximately 15.9 measurement points per square centimeter. The reconstructed results successfully reveal the strain field of the pipe cantilever beam under bending and torsional loads, as well as the palm-shaped temperature field. This experimental validation of the method’s efficacy lays the theoretical groundwork for its application to real wind turbines. Full article

Pile foundation is the most common foundation form in geotechnical engineering; it is very important for engineering safety. In order to accurately grasp the deformation of pile foundation, OFDR (optical frequency domain reflectometer) and BOTDR (Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer) optical fiber sensing technologies are used to measure the strain variation of pile foundation. The measurement results of the two technologies are analyzed, and different data processing methods are used. The ability of the two methods to measure the strain of pile foundation is evaluated. The results show that OFDR technology can achieve high-precision and distributed measurement of strain of pile; BOTDR technology can achieve the monitoring effect of OFDR to a certain extent using appropriate data processing methods; the combination of the two methods can make up for the shortcomings of the short monitoring distance of the OFDR technique and the low accuracy of the BOTDR technique; by comparing the application effect with the two technologies in geotechnical engineering, the application prospect of OFDR–BOTDR joint optical fiber sensing technology in geotechnical engineering is discussed. Full article

This article presents the results of the study of the influence of the most significant parameters of the side wall roughness of an ultra-thin silicon nitride lightguide layer of multimode integrated optical waveguides with widths of 3 and 8 microns. The choice of the waveguide width was made due to the need to provide multimode operation for telecommunication wavelengths, which is necessary to ensure high integration density. Scattering in waveguide structures was measured by optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) of a backscattering reflectometer. The finite difference time domain method (FDTD) was used to study the effect of roughness parameters on optical losses in fabricated waveguides, the roughness parameters that most strongly affect optical scattering were determined, and methods of its significant reduction were specified. The prospects for implementing such structures on a quartz substrate are justified. Full article

Optical fiber distributed sensing that is based on optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR) is a promising technology for achieving a highest spatial resolution downwards to several millimeters. An OFDR signal demodulation method that is based on Morlet wavelet transformation (WT) is demonstrated in detail to improve the resolution of distributed sensing physical quantity under a high spatial resolution, aiming at the trade-off between spatial and spectrum resolution. The spectrum resolution, spatial interval of the measured gauges, and spatial resolution can be manually controlled by adjusting the wavelet parameters. The experimental results that were achieved by the wavelet transformation (WT) method are compared with these by short time Fourier transformation (STFT) method and they indicate that significant improvements, such as strain resolution of 1 με, spatial resolution of 5 mm, average repeatability of 4.3 με, and stability of 7.3 με within one hour, have been achieved. The advantages of this method are high spatial and spectral resolution, robust, and applicability with current OFDR systems. Full article

A novel optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR) processing algorithm is proposed to enhance the measurable range and data processing rate using a narrow swept spectrum range and reducing the time consuming of the process distributed sensing results. To reduce the swept wavelength range and simultaneously enhance strain measurable range, the local similarity characteristics of Rayleigh scattering fingerprint spectrum is discovered and a new similarity evaluation function based on least-square method is built to improve the data processing rate and sensing performance. By this method, the strain measurable range is raised to 3000 µε under a highest spatial resolution of 3 mm when the swept spectrum range is only 10 nm and the data processing rate is improved by at least 10 times. Experimental results indicate that a nonlinearity of less than 0.5%, a strain resolution of better than 10 µε, a repeatability at zero strain of below ±0.4 GHz and a full-scale accuracy is lower than 0.85 GHz under a highest spatial resolution of 3 mm can be achieved. Advantages of this method are fast processing rate, large strain measurable range, high SNR, and applicability with current OFDR systems. Full article

The Cast-in-place concrete large-diameter pipe (PCC) pile has been used as the foundation reinforcement and embankment in China due to its low cost and high bearing capacity. The deformation of PCC pile under different vertical loads is very important for the application of engineering. In order to study the deformation characteristics of PCC pile, a small-scale model test was carried out. The new distributed measuring technology, named Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometer (OFDR), was applied to measure the strain on the PCC pile. A single mode fiber (SMF) was used, and the methods of layout, packaging and protection of optical fiber are introduced in detail. The obtained data was dealt with by wavelet transform, and the strain curves were analyzed based on the experiments. The finite element (FE) analysis model was established by COMSOL Multiphysics, and the numerical results compared with the experiment results. It showed that the optical fiber sensor can measure the strain of PCC pile, and that the deformation of PCC pile can be successfully obtained by OFDR technology. The strain of the pile decreases with depth and increases with loading. The measured result agrees well with numerical simulation result. The potential application of OFDR technology to PCC pile in situ and PCC energy pile is discussed. Full article

We propose an efficient model-based signal processing approach for optical fiber sensing with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) arrays. A position estimation based on an estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA) and a reflectivity estimation method using a parametric transfer matrix model (TMM) are outlined in detail. The estimation algorithms are evaluated with Monte Carlo simulations and measurement data from an incoherent optical frequency domain reflectometer (iOFDR). The model-based approach outperforms conventional Fourier transform processing, especially near the spatial resolution limit, saving electrical bandwidth and measurement time. The models provide great flexibility and can be easily expanded in complexity to meet different topologies and to include prior knowledge of the sensors. Systematic errors due to crosstalk between gratings caused by multiple reflections and spectral shadowing could be further considered with the TMM to improve the performance of large-scale FBG array sensor systems. Full article