A Novel Optical Accelerometer with Wide Operation Range

摘要

Frequently, assessment and monitoring of mechanical (acoustic) vibrations is necessary in large structures. Cost and reliability are major issues for field-deployment. We present a simple, compact and reliable optical accelerometer designed and constructed in our labs, capable of consistent measurement of vibrations in low and intermediate acoustic ranges (few Hz to few kHz). The principle of operation is based on the variation of the optical signal power coupled between singlemode fibers fixed in the optical sensor head. The device sensitivity has a lower limit to accelerations below 1g, and surprising upper value above 180 m/s~2 (18g).