Development and Testing of Fast-Response Fiber-Optic Pressure Sensor

摘要

THIS EFFORT WAS TO DEVELOP FIBER OPTIC SENSORS FOR MEASURING RAPIDLY FLUCTUATINGHIGH PRESSURES. TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTS OF BLAST WAVES PRODUCED BY EXPLOSIONS ON CIVIL STRUCTURES, IT IS NECESSARY TO KNOW THE STRENGTH OF SUCH PRESSURE WAVES. THE PROBLEM WITH CONVENTIONAL SENSORS WHICH USE THE MOTION OF A DIAPHRAGM OR DISK IS THAT THEY TEND TO VIBRATE ONCE THEY ARE STRUCT BY AN INITIAL PRESSURE SPIKE. THE GOAL WAS TO DEMONSTRATE FEASIBILITY OF FIBER-OPTIC SENSORS FOR PRESSURE TRANSIENT MEASUREMENT. THE SEVEN CRITERIA INVOLVED IN THE EVALUATION WERE (1) SENSITIVITY AND RANGE, (2) TIME RESPONSE, (3) NOISE CHARACTERISTICS, (4) RUGGEDNESS/DURABILITY, (5) COST OF MATERIALS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT, (6) EASE OF CONSTRUCTION, AND (7) SIMPLICITY OF SENSING MECHANISM.