MIT COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING PUNE.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 2011-2012

A Seminar Report on

POLYMER OPTICAL FIBER SENSORS

Guided by:Prof.S.P.Wadkar

Submitted By: SHALABH MITTAL T.E.(B) T3847, University Examination No:

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Shalabh Mittal has successfully completed the seminar work entitled Polymer Optical Fiber Sensors under my supervision in the partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical of University of Pune. It is a record of bonafide work carried out by him under my supervision and guidance.

Date

(Prof. S.P.Wadkar) Guide

(Prof. Dr.B.S.Kothavale) H.O.D. (Mech)

(Prof. Dr.Vijay Wadhai) Principal

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me great pleasure to present a technical paper on Polymer Optical Fiber Sensors. In preparing this paper number of hands helped me directly and indirectly. Therefore it becomes my duty to express my gratitude towards them. I take this opportunity to thank my internal technical presentation guide Prof. S.P Wadkar for his guidance and for providing all the necessary facilities, which were indispensable in completion of this technical paper. I will fail in my duty if I won't acknowledge a great sense of gratitude to the Principal Prof. Vijay Wadhai, Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering Prof. Dr. B. S. Kothavale and the entire staff members in Mechanical Engineering Department for their cooperation. Finally, I thank my parents for their blessings.

SHALABH MITTAL
TE MECHANICAL ROLL NO:-T3847

ABSTRACT

Polymer optical fibers (POFs) have significant advantages for many sensing applications, including high elastic strain limits, high fracture toughness, high flexibility in bending, high sensitivity to strain and potential negative thermo-optic coefficients. The recent emergence of single-mode POFs has enabled high precision, large deformation optical fiber sensors. This article describes recent advances in both multi-mode and single-mode POF based strain and temperature sensors. The mechanical and optical properties of POFs relevant to strain and temperature applications are first summarized. POFs considered include multi-mode POFs, solid core single-mode POFs and microstructured single-mode POFs. Practical methods for applying POF sensors, including connecting and embedding sensors in structural materials, are also described. Recent demonstrations of multi-mode POF sensors in structural applications based on new interrogation methods, including backscattering and time-of-flight measurements, are outlined. The phasedisplacement relation of a single-mode POF undergoing large deformation is presented to build a fundamental understanding of the response of single-mode POF sensors. Finally, this article highlights recent single-mode POF based sensors based on polymer fiber Bragg gratings and microstructured POFs.

CONTENTS

Sr. no.

NAME OF CHAPTER

PAGE

1.

INTRODUCTION

2.

PROPERTIES

3.

APPLICATIONS

14

4.

EXAMPLE-MUTLI-MODE

20

5.

EXAMPLE-SINGLE -MODE

26

6.

CONCLUSION & OUTLOOK

30

7.

REFERENCES

31

CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
Polymer optical fibers (POFs), also referred to as plastic optical fibers, have many of the same advantages as conventional silica optical fibers for sensing applications. These include low weight, immunity to electromagnetic interference and multiplexing capabilities. In general, POFs provide a much lower cost alternative to silica optical fibers, albeit with higher transmission losses. POFs have thus been applied for data transmission over short distances, e.g. local to home Internet connections and automotive applications . As sensors, POFs have additional advantages, including high elastic strain limits, high fracture toughness, high flexibility in bending, high sensitivity to strain and potential negative thermo-optic coefficients. Polymers also have excellent compatibility with organic materials, giving them great potential for biomedical applications. Previously, sensors based on multi-mode POFs have been successfully applied to take advantages of these properties. Unfortunately, due to the characteristics of multi-mode fibers, these sensors are generally larger than comparable single-mode, silica fiber sensors and produce lower measurement accuracy and resolution. However, recent successes in both the fabrication of singlemode POFs and new interrogation methods for multi-mode POF sensors have enabled large deformation, high precision sensors. The goal of this article is to highlight these recent advances and present the new sensor capabilities expected from this rapidly growing field. Additionally, the article will discuss the particular challenges and advantages to working with POF sensors as compared with silica fiber based sensors. Here we will focus on strain and temperature measurements; Zubia and Arrue and Bartlett et al list many examples of chemical sensors based on multi-mode POFs. The properties of POFs are first reviewed, including multi-mode; solid core, singlemode; and microstructured, single-mode POFs. Next, practical 1 It is assumed that the reader has previous experience with silica optical fiber sensors. If the reader is not familiar with optical fiber sensors in general, Measures is a good starting reference.

Figure 1. Attenuation loss of common optical polymers as a function of wavelength (adapted from , copyright (2001), with permission from Elsevier). issues in applying POF sensors, including connectorizing and integrating them into structures, are discussed. Finally, specific sensors demonstrating the potential of each of these POF types are highlighted.

CHAPTER-2
PROPERTIES

POFs have the same geometry as silica optical fibers, with a core, cladding and sometimes a jacket. A history of the development of POFs can be found in Zubia and Arrue . A variety of optical polymers are used in the fabrication of POFs, including polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA), amorphous fluorinated polymer (CYTOP), polystyrene (PS) and polycarbonate (PC). Ziemann et al gives an extensive overview of common POF materials and their properties. Unlike silica optical fibers, POFs are primarily available as multi-mode fibers, which have larger diameters and propagate multiple, interacting modes. Since the larger diameter of multimode POFs makes them easier to handle, cleave and connect, multi-mode POF sensors are often promoted as less expensive and easier to install than their silica counterparts. While this is a true benefit for multi-mode POF sensors, care should be taken as the same does not hold for single-mode POF based sensors. For strain measurement applications, the primary advantage to polymeric sensing materials are their ductile behavior and high elastic strain limits. For example, PMMA has an elastic limit around 10%, as compared to 13% for silica . Lesser known advantages to POFs are their increased sensitivity to strain (strain-optic coefficient) and their potential negative thermo-optic coefficient . PMMA also has a lower density (1195 kg m3) than silica (2200 kg m3), producing lower weight optical fibers . The following sections review the optical and mechanical behavior of POFs necessary to understand the performance of POF based sensors. For strain measurement applications, the primary advantage to polymeric sensing materials are their ductile behavior and high elastic strain limits. For example, PMMA has an elastic limit around 10%, as compared to 13% for silica . Lesser known advantages to POFs are their increased sensitivity to strain (strain-optic coefficient) and their potential negative thermo-optic coefficient . PMMA also has a lower density (1195 kg m3) than silica (2200 kg m3), producing lower weight optical fibers . The following sections review the optical and mechanical behavior of POFs necessary to understand the performance of POF based sensors.

2.1 OPTICAL BEHAVIOUR

The two loss properties that define the transmission quality of an optical fiber are attenuation and dispersion. The attenuation coefficient, , is a measure of the power loss of a lightwave propagating through the optical fiber per unit distance and is defined as P(z) = P(0)10z/10 (1) where z is the distance along the optical fiber axis, P(0) is the input power of the lightwave and P(z) is the output power at a distance z . The sources of attenuation in optical fibers can be divided into two types: intrinsic and extrinsic . Intrinsic sources are inherent to the material (e.g. material absorption, Rayleigh scattering), whereas extrinsic sources are introduced during manufacturing of the fiber (e.g. structural imperfections, microbends). The intrinsic attenuation loss of common optical polymers is plotted in figure 1 as a function of wavelength. As seen in figure 1, the primary differences in attenuation properties between POF and silica optical fibers are: (1) the inherent attenuation in optical polymers is orders of magnitude greater than those in silica and (2) at wavelengths above 700 nm, the attenuation of optical polymers increases with wavelength whereas the attenuation of silica decreases. The difference in magnitude means attenuation is often a critical factor in designing a POF sensor system, and the length of the sensor can be limited by this condition. The second difference means that POF sensors are typically designed to operate in one of three windows. The first two windows are around 850 nm, where some commercial telecoms components are available, and the visible wavelength range (400700 nm), where the POF attenuation is minimal. In contrast, silica optical fiber based sensor systems typically operate in the nearinfrared wavelength range (13001600 nm). As improvements are made to reduce the attenuation of POFs, a third window of operation for POF sensors is now this same near-infrared wavelength range, where existing telecoms instrumentation, originally designed for silica fibers, can be applied. Dispersion is a measure of signal broadening due to the wavelength dependent speed of propagation through the optical fiber and it limits transmission over long distances. Several of the sensors to be discussed in this review have long gauge lengths, for which the dispersion properties of the POFs are important. As a pulsed lightwave propagates through an optical fiber it broadens mainly due to two phenomena:

(1) the finite bandwidth of the laser source incorporates different wavelengths which travel at different speeds through the optical fiber (material dispersion) and (2) different modes also propagate at different speeds through the optical fiber (intermodal dispersion) . The second effect is important for multi-mode optical fibers. While the material dispersion depends on the choice of polymer material and propagating wavelength, the intermodal dispersion is strongly dependent on the index of refraction profile in the optical fiber. Step index profiles have particularly high intermodal dispersion, therefore graded index profile fibers, which can lower the intermodal dispersion by a few orders of magnitude, are often used for longer distance transmission. Graded index profile POFs (GIPOFs) can therefore significantly improve the resolution of sensors based on signals transmitted over long lengths of fiber. The most common method of increasing the core index of refraction in POFs is through doping. Doping of the core produces fibers with high numerical apertures (NA), as compared to silica fibers This high index contrast improves the coupling efficiency of lightwaves into the POF and reduces bending losses, both advantageous for sensor applications. However this high index contrast also creates difficulties in the fabrication of single-mode fibers, which is the main reason why the development of single-mode POFs has lagged behind silica optical fibers .The number of modes propagating through an optical fiber is determined by the normalized frequency, V=(2a/ )NA NA (3) with a the core radius and the wavelength of the propagating lightwave. For V < 2.405 only a single-mode propagates through the optical fiber, whereas for V _ 2.405 multiple modes propagate through the optical fiber. As the NA of POFs are much higher than their silica counterparts, the core radius must be considerably smaller than for silica optical fibers in order for the fiber to be single-mode at a given wavelength. The smaller core diameter increases the scattering losses at the core cladding interface . Additionally, as the intrinsic losses of polymers are lower in the visible wavelength range, fabricating POFs to be single-mode at lower values of further reduces the required core diameter. Single-mode POFs were first developed by Koike et al . More recent advances in the fabrication of singlemode POFs with minimal attenuation levels have created the potential for single-mode POF sensors. Kuzyk et al first
10

fabricated optical fibers (PMMA) with a doped core that were Table 1. Measured tensile properties of single-mode PMMA POFs. Reference Strain rate (min1) E (GPa) _Y (%) _U (%) [17] 0.10.5 1.62.1 6 38 [19] 0.005 2.7 1.2 6 [18] 0.013.05 4.05.0 3.54.6 34 [20] 0.01 a 3.3 24 a The POF of Law et al is a microstructured POF with some air fraction in the core, therefore E is not comparable with the other sources. single-mode at an operating wavelength of = 1300 nm. These fibers demonstrated attenuation levels of approximately 0.3 dBcm1, close to the intrinsic material attenuation for PMMA at that wavelength. Bosc and Toinen later fabricated single-mode PMMA optical fibers with attenuation levels of 0.25 dB cm1 at = 1550 nm and 0.05 dB cm1 at = 850 nm. Finally, Garvey et al improved the process to create single-mode POFs at = 1060 nm with an attenuation level of 0.18 dB cm1. Further details on advances in PMMA based single-mode POFs and active POFs can be found in Kuzyk . Currently, doped, single-mode POFs are still experimental, with only one commercial manufacturer, Paradigm Optics.

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2.2 MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR

Tensile testing of POFs requires fixtures designed for small diameter fibers with low rigidities. Jiang et al , Kiesel et al , Yang et al and Law et al all report tensile testing of single-mode PMMA POFs under various strain rates and cyclic load conditions. A summary of measured properties, including Youngs modulus (E), yield strain (_Y) and ultimate strain (_U), are listed in table 1. Figure 2 plots typical true stressstrain curves for a single-mode POF measured in a universal testing machine. The applied strain rate was varied from 0.01 to 3.05 min1. The failure strain for the POF was around 30% for most of the samples. The yield strain increased with the applied strain rate, as plotted in figure 3, while the initial slope of the curve also increased, although by a much lower amount.

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However, the mechanical properties of POFs also depend strongly upon the fiber drawing process, including the drawing ratio (ratio of preform diameter to final diameter), temperature and speed . A detailed description of a typical drawing process for singlemode, doped PMMA POFs can be found in Jiang et al . An important factor in the fiber mechanical behavior is the annealing process to remove internal stresses. During the drawing process, the polymer molecules align in the axial direction, creating anisotropic material properties. In addition to changing themechanical properties, anisotropy in the optical fiber creates birefringence in the fiber cross-section which reduces the lightwave transmission quality through the optical fiber. This stress relaxation also causes small cracks to appear in the radial direction . This effect is enhanced at elevated draw temperatures. Jiang et al annealed polymer bulk materials above the glass transition temperature for one week before drawing to ensure they were isotropic. After drawing, the POFs were annealed at 95 C, just below the glass transition temperature to release the residual stresses. Observation of the failure modes of unannealed POFs demonstrated a higher strength than the annealed fibers and a brittle failure. The POFs fractured in the form of multiple cracks and splitting along the axis of the POF, typical of anisotropic materials. In contrast, the annealed fiber failed in a ductile manner, typical of an isotropic material. Finally, the dopant concentration used to increase the index of refraction of the POF core can also change the ductility of the POF slightly . In summary, it is important to calibrate the specific POF to be used for a sensing application, as the properties between POFs are not as consistent as between silica fibers for telecom applications.

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2.3- STRAIN AND TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY

To measure the strain sensitivity of an optical fiber for sensing devices, we typically subject the fiber to a pure axial strain. We define the strain sensitivity as the phase change in a lightwave propagating through the optical fiber per unit length of elongation. Based on the Pockels constants for bulk PMMA, the strain sensitivity of a PMMA POF is theoretically predicted to be 132.6 105 rads m1 . This is about 15% larger than the strain sensitivity of bulk silica, which is 115105 rads m1. Likewise, we define the thermal sensitivity to be the phase shift in a lightwave propagating through the optical fiber per unit change in temperature per unit length of the fiber. For bulk PMMA, the thermal sensitivity is calculated to be 154.3 radsm1 K1. This is not only larger in magnitude that of silica (98.8 rads m1 K1), but is also of the opposite sign. This negative thermo-optic coefficient, which is the case for some polymers, will present new possibilities for temperature compensation in strain sensors, as will be discussed later. On a final note, these sensitivities are based on the linear response of the optical fiber and therefore apply to small strain and temperature conditions. Due to the high yield strain and strong nonlinear mechanical properties of the POFs, the nonlinear phase response with strain should be considered as early as 1% axial strain . Analytical predictions and experimental measurements of the nonlinear strain response of PMMA POFs.

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CHAPTER -3 APPLICATIONS
3.1 PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF POF SENSORS 3.1.1 CONNECTORIZING POF SENSORS
One of the most significant, practical challenges in applying some POFs as sensors is in preparing the POF endfaces for connection to other optical fibers or instrumentation. On the one hand, a wide range of connectors are commercially available for multi-mode POFs . Due to their large diameter, these POFs are relatively easy to cut and handle during preparation. Furthermore, the large core size reduces the core alignment requirements. On the other hand, the extremely small core size and flexibility of polymer materials makes connecting single-mode POFs difficult. The high attenuation properties of single-mode POFs often requires that the POF sensor be connected to silica optical fibers as leads to and from the instrumentation. Microstructured, single-mode POFs have larger core diameters, however the presence of small holes in the cross-section requires better control to prevent debris from clogging the holes or thermally induced collapse of the holes . In this section we discuss some of the successful and unsuccessful methods applied to connectorizing single-mode POFs. The examples presented have all considered PMMA, single-mode POFs. For any optical fiber, the endfaces must first be cleaved to produce a surface that is smooth and perpendicular to the axis of the optical fiber. For silica optical fibers, cleaving is performed by first notching the outer surface to produce a microcrack in the fiber cross-section and then bending the optical fiber to propagate the crack across the crosssection. This well established procedure produces a smooth fracture surface perpendicular to the fiber axis. Due to the viscoelastic nature of polymers and their low stiffness, applying this cleaving method to POFs produces a combination of cutting and tearing which reduces the quality of the cleaved surface . The ductile behavior of the polymer produces plastic deformation at the fracture surface which warps the cross-section. When the PMMA is in a brittle state, the material anisotropy creates turning of the crack front and chipping, creating debris that is dragged over the fra cture surface. Alternative methods must therefore be applied for preparing the POF
15

ed faces and connecting them to optical fibers. The most successful method for practical field cleaving of single-mode, PMMA POFs has been through hot-knife cleaving, first applied to single-mode microstructured POFs by Law et al . Figure 4 shows a schematic and photograph of the cutter used by the authors in which the blade and platen are heated separately. The POF is mounted on the platen and allowed to reach an equilibrium temperature before cutting. The cutting speed is controlled with a stepper motor and the blade cutting surface rotated so that each POF is cut with a pristine blade surface. Law et al performed a careful analysis of the cleaved POF endface for multiple fiber temperatures, blade temperatures and cutting speeds. The PMMA was ductile in the range 25100 C, with a transition in material structure around 60 C (the glass transition temperature was around 115 C). The authors found that the best results were obtained when the blade temperature was slightly lower than the fiber temperature and both were around this structural transition temperature.

Figure 4. Hot-knife cutter at the University of Sydney (reprinted from [26], copyright (2006), with permission from Elsevier).

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The most successful approach to achieve a field suitable connector with relatively low loss has been to first cleave the POF as discussed above and then to glue it into a ferrule for coupling. Abdi et al coupled pre-cleaved, singlemode POFs to singlemode silica optical fibers using ferrules from standard single-mode FC connectors. The single-mode POF diameter was 125 m, which was ideal for alignment of the fibers in the ferrule. This connector was then glued to the surface of tensile specimens and survived beyond the application of 10% axial strain to the POF. The PMMA material was more flexible than the surrounding ferrule, resulting in movement of the POF within the connector during polishing. An optical microscopy image of a representative connector endface is shown in figure 5(b). Typically, the POF fractured during the polishing process, resulting in a POF cross-section which was not coplanar with the ferrule surface. Additionally, the submersion of the POF surface prevented the FC connector from transmitting lightwaves effectively

(a) (b)

Figure 5. Optical microscopy images of (a) focused ion-beam cleaved cross-section after final polish (image taken at 52 tilt angle) and (b) FC connector cross-section region near ferrule.
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3.1.2 POF INTERGRATION INTO MATERIAL SYSTEMS

Similar to silica optical fiber sensors, POFs can be integrated into structural materials for in situ strain and temperature monitoring. While many of the integration issues are similar between silica fiber and POF based sensors, some differences are important, as highlighted in table 2. In this section, we summarize the knowledge gained from three recent studies on POF sensors embedded in material systems; one in a concrete infrastructure system, one in a geotextile and the other in a glass fiberepoxy laminate. Kiesel et al investigated the suitability of singlemode POF sensors for in situ monitoring of civil infrastructure systems. Single-mode, PMMA POFs (diameter 115 m) were partially embedded during casting of three typical civil structural materials: mortar, hydrostone, and cement paste. The POFs were then pulled from the cast specimens at a rate of 2.5 mmmin1 in a tensile testing machine to evaluate the bonding strength. Typical measured force versus displacement curves for each of the three material types are plotted in figure 6. The POF fiber embedded in mortar broke at the exit point of the fiber at approximately 1.4 N. The total slippage of the POF from the mortar was relatively low. The total slippage of the POF embedded in hydrostone was significantly higher that of the mortar specimen. At the same time, the POF didfail at a higher load of 2.5 N. In the cement paste specimen, Figure 6. Force versus displacement curve for pullout tests of single-mode POF embedded in several structural materials . the POF yielded and then broke at the maximum load of 2.7 N before any significant slippage had occurred. From these results we can infer that the relatively large particle size of the mortar caused premature failure of the POF, while the POF did not sufficiently bond to the hydrostone. The cement paste was therefore the optimal material system in which to embed the POF due to the strong bond between the cement and the POF. Presumably, this is due to the small particle size of the cement paste.

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Figure 7. Embedding of single-mode PMMA POF in concrete structural component. (a) POFs embedded in pre-cast concrete blocks; (b) fixture of pre-cast block to frame for casting of the concrete structure; (c) concrete structure after failure. The second concern when embedding POF strain gauges in concrete structures is the large shrinkage of the concrete during cure and potential optical power transmission losses in the POF as a result. To mitigate the effects of the residual stresses, the POFwas first embedded in a small pre-cast concrete block, as shown in figure 7(a). The block was then\ fixed to the frame before casting of the reinforced concrete structural component, as shown in figure 7(b). The ribbed edges of the small blocks permit better bonding of the precast block to the surrounding concrete. No significant loss in optical transmission was measured after embedding and curing of the concrete. The pre-cast block was then embedded in the reinforced concrete structure, which wasthen loaded untilfailure (see figure 7 )

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CHAPTER-4 4. POF SENSOR EXAMPLE-MULTI-MODE

As mentioned previously, multi-mode POFs are commercially available, relatively inexpensive and easy to handle and connect. In this section we review sensors based on multimode POFs ranging from simple, inexpensive sensors based on optical power loss to more sophisticated distributed sensing methods based on the measurement of POF backscattering properties. A third alternative, based on time-of-flight measurements through the multi-mode POF is also introduced. Each of these sensors has the same benefits over comparable silica optical fiber based sensors, in that they can be applied in high strain environments where silica optical fibers would fail.

4.1. OPTICAL LOSS POF SENSORS

The earliest studies using POFs for strain sensing were based on measuring optical transmission losses in the POF due to strain concentrations near the sensor. For example, Takeda embedded multi-mode, PMMA POFs in carbon fiberepoxy laminates for the detection of cracking. Light from a light emitting diode (LED) was coupled into the POF and the output power measured with a photodetector. This is a very inexpensive sensor and was shown to be highly sensitive to the local crack density in the laminate as the laminate was loaded in tension. Due to its high strain limit, the POF survived beyond the failure of the laminate. Although the sensor was able to detect the presence of cracks, spatial information was not obtained and its sensitivity to other parameters was not evaluated. To increase the sensitivity of the optical transmission loss to applied strain, Kuang et al removed a portion of the cross-section of a 980 m diameter, multi-mode, PMMA POF. The optical transmission was measured in the same manner as in Takeda . The POF was adhered to a metallic specimen and acted as a strain gauge through bending of the POF. Two configurations were applied: (1) a test in which the POF was along the axis of a beam during bending and (2) the POF was mounted on a beam in a curved path such that tensile and compressive loading of the beam caused a
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change in curvature of the POF. The resulting POF crosssection was not symmetric, therefore the bending direction could also be identified. The POF was not very sensitive to tension along the POF axis. The sensor demonstrated a linear decrease in transmitted power with increase in bending curvature and a linear increase in transmitted power with decrease in bending curvature. No hysteresis was observed in the strain range measured (up to 12 millistrain). Kuang et al later applied this sensor to measure the free vibration response of a carbon fiberepoxy laminated beam to detect changes in the damping behavior due to damage. A second application was the detection of cracks in concrete beams loaded in bending In this application, the presence of cracks produced localized necking of the POF and therefore large decreases in optical transmission. For the POF surface mounted along the beam, the total optical transmission loss was approximately linearly related to the number of cracks along the beam. Some deviation in this relation was obtained towards the end of the test, presumably due to crack widening at some crack locations. Discrimination of these two effects could not be obtained with an integrated measurement. Other researchers have increased the sensitivity of the transmission power loss to axial strain by chemical tapering of the POF removing a curved section (groove) of the

crosssection and combining multiple grooves in the crosssection with bending of the cross-section . Remouche et al took advantage of the large thermo-optic coefficient of polymers to design a temperature sensor based on a bent length of POF. The optical loss through the bend changed as a function of index of refraction of the polymer and therefore the applied temperature. The thermal sensitivity of this sensor is theoretically one order of magnitude greater than an equivalent silica optical fiber based sensor.

4.2. BACKSCATTERING BASED POF SENSORS

To perform a more detailed analysis of the optical losses, Husdi et al calibrated the optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) response of several standard multi-mode, large diameter (1 mm), step index PMMA POFs. In order to capture the weak backscattering levels, the authors applied a specially designed photon-counting detector, operating at a wavelength of 650 nm. The POFs were subjected to bending,
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clamping, twisting, axial strain and temperature loadings. As expected, the spatial resolution depended on the launch NA and the modal dispersion in the POF. One interesting observation was that a permanent memory effect appeared in the OTDR response in which the measured losses remained after the load was removed This memory effect could be used to measure the maximum strain achieved during aloadingunloading cycle. It was presumed that this memory effect is due to plastic deformation occurring in the POF after approximately 5% axial strain.Extending the OTDR measurement of POF backscatter to field applications, Liehr et al embedded large diameter, multi-mode PMMA POFs in textiles for the monitoring of geotechnical and masonry structures. The geotextiles, examples of which are shown in figure 9(a), were embedded in a railway embankment for the monitoring of soil displacements. The large core diameter and NA multimode POFs applied allowed easy connection to and handling of the sensors at the construction site, while the use of the standard POF itself as the sensor permitted monitoring of a large area at low cost. Additionally, the high ultimate strain of the PMMA allowed the POF to elongate with the large soil deformations. In a second application, the POF was embedded into a wearable belt for monitoring the respiratory movements of a patient in environments where electrical signals cannot be used by the sensors, for example in magnetic resonance imaging facilities. The performance of the POF sensor was comparable to silica optical fiber based macrobending and Bragg grating sensors, which were also tested. One major advantage of the POF in this configuration was its compatibility with the more than 50% elongation requirement for the textile. The use of PMMA POFs for OTDR measurements was limited by the attenuation and dispersion characteristics of the fiber. While strain measurements were obtained up to 40% axial elongation of the fiber, the attenuation reduced the length of fiber that could be interrogated to 100 m [32]. Replacing the POF with a low loss, graded index, perfluorinated POF (PFGIPOF) significantly improved both the measurement resolution and maximum fiber length as a result of the reduced dispersion and attenuation in the fiber (see section 2.1). This fiber permitted sensor lengths up to 500 m and could be interrogated with standard, telecom components (at 1072 and 1311 nm). A sample backscattered signal for this fiber isplotted in figure 9(b). Furthermore, the authors improved the
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measurement resolution to 10 cm and calculated the crosscorrelation of the characteristic backscatter profile of the fiber for distributed length change measurements.

4.3. TIME-OF-FLIGHT SENSOR

For some structural applications, it is sufficient to measure the integrated strain along the POF. The time-of-flight measurement provides sufficient displacement resolution for a full-scale structure, yet at orders of magnitude lower cost than the OTDR and similar systems described above.

Fig.8 Photograph of upper side of aircraft flap showing POF adhered to surface and prototype instrumentation [49]
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Aircraft flap showing POF adhered to surface and prototype instrumentation and Durana et al applied time-of-flight measurements to monitor the global displacement of a vibrating aircraft wing flap. A diagram of the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) driven interrogator is shown in figure 10, along with a photograph of the aircraft flap with the surface mounted sensor POF. In this configuration, the phase of a sinusoidally intensity modulated optical sensor signal is compared to that of a similarly modulated reference fiber signal. The relative phase shift between the signals is linearly dependent upon the strain and temperature difference between the fibers, integrated along the length of the fibers. The reference fiber (also POF) can be used for temperature or other signal compensation. The phase of the optical sensor signal could also be compared to the original electrical signal used to modulate the laser source if a reference fiber is not required . The key difference between this and classical, phase based, interferometric optical fiber sensors is that the phase shift measurement is of the intensity modulation from the VCO and not phase shifts of the propagating lightwave. The constant frequency modulation, combined with digital filtering of the signal, provides a high-resolution time-of-flight measurement, all based on low cost, commercially available telecom components and multi-mode POF. The system is also portable, durable (since no moving parts are required) and has relatively low power requirements. The resolution of the elongation measurement is determined by the resolution of the oscilloscope, the filter and noise level. The measurement displacement range, on the other hand, is determined by the oscillator modulation frequency, and can be quite large compared to other interrogation methods.

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CHAPTER-5 5. POF SENSOR EXAMPLESINGLE MODE

As described in section 2, single-mode POFs have recently been fabricated, both in solid core and microstructured designs. The emergence of these optical fibers has created the potential for polymer based, high precision, large deformation optical fiber sensors for a variety of applications. In this section we review recent examples of single-mode POF strain and temperature sensors. To begin, we present the simplest sensor design, that of using the single-mode POF itself as an arm in a phase based interferometer. Calibration of the response of this sensor configuration can be used not only to measure strain or temperature, but also to reveal a fundamental understanding of the opto-mechanical response of the POF under large deformations. This response model could be applied to predict the response of any intrinsic, singlemode POF sensor design. Therefore the response of this sensor configuration will be discussed in detail. Afterward, we present recent successes in the fabrication of fiber grating based sensors written into single-mode POFs to provide localized, multiplexed sensing capabilities. Finally, we present new directions in the fabrication of mPOF based sensors which are expected to extend POF sensing into new domains.

5.1. IN-FIBER POF MACHZEHNDER INTERFEROMETER

Kiesel et al recently demonstrated coherent interferometry in a single-mode POF infiber MachZehnder interferometer up to 15.8% elongation of the POF. This strain range is well beyond that previously measured with silica optical fiber sensors. As expected, the measured phasedisplacement sensitivity was not constant over the usable strain range. It is important to both calibrate and understand the source of nonlinearities in the phase response of the POF. Silva-Lopez et al first measured the sensitivity of doped single-mode POFs to strain and temperature. The POFs were designed to be single-mode at 850 nm, with an acrylic cladding (n = 1.4905) and doped PMMA core (n = 1.4923).

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The authors operated the fibers with a visible light source at 11 = 632 nm, outside of the single-mode region, however they only observed the fundamental mode propagating through the fiber. Using a MachZehnder interferometer arrangement and loading the optical fiber on a translation stage, they measured a phase sensitivity to displacement of 1.31 107 rad m1. This phase sensitivity is in good agreement with the properties of bulk PMMA discussed earlier. The measurements of SilvaLopez et al were made in the strain range of 00.04%, which is a limited portion of the strain range over which singlemode POF sensors have the potential to be applied.

. 5.2. FIBER GRATING SYSTEM

As for silica based optical fiber sensors, there is a need for localized strain and temperature sensors that can be multiplexed along an optical fiber. For example, Kuang et al [54] created a FabryPerot interferometer through an air gap between two multi-mode POFs. Although multiple modes interfered in the gap, the response of the FabryPerot interferometer was sufficiently coherent to measure changes in the gap length. With the emergence of single-mode POFs, grating structures can now be written in POFs to create intrinsic, localized sensors.

5.3. MICROSTRUCTURED POFs SENSOR

Researchers at the University of Sydney first fabricated microstructured polymer optical fibers (mPOFs) to overcome the high intrinsic attenuation properties of common polymers.. Microstructured POFs (also known as holey fibers) guide light due to a hole pattern in the fiber cross-section. An example mPOF cross-section is shown. A review of the properties of mPOFs is beyond the scope of this article, however an extensive description can be found. For sensing applications, the advantages of mPOFs over conventional, solid core optical polymer optical fibers are: (1) as the lightwave propagates through less material in the cross-section, the intrinsic attenuation is potentially lower; (2) due to the difference in guiding properties, a mPOF can be single-mode for a wide range of wavelengths ranging from the visible to near-infrared and (3) this single-mode property is obtained without an extremely small core size, which increases the coupling efficiency to and from the POF.
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A high intensity exposure of the POF to the UV light was required to compensate for the scattering losses at the holeair interfaces. The amount of scattering, and therefore the success of the FBG inscription, was highly dependent on the orientation of the microstructure relative to the writing UV beam. The resulting grating had a Bragg wavelength of 1536 nm and a length of 10 mm. When axial strain was applied to the FBG the Bragg wavelength was shifted 41 nm (at a maximum strain just below 3%), at which point the spectral width of the source was reached.

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Fig.9-Microstructure POF SENSOR

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CHAPTER -6
CONCLUSIONS & OUTLOOK

Recent advances in polymer optical fiber and interrogator technology have led to POF based sensors that are rapidly enabling high deformation, high accuracy optical fiber based strain and temperature sensing. Field applications with multimode POFs have also demonstrated their compatibility with structural applications. Fields where POF sensors will have strong near term impacts are most likely to be the monitoring of large structures or geotechnical foundations where low cost monitoring of large areas can be achieved. While still maintaining the advantages of silica optical fiber sensors, POF based sensors also provide the flexibility to be integrated into complex structural geometries. Such deformation capabilities have been applied to the measurement of crack openings in concrete, the deformation of soil structures and the deformation of textiles. These are all applications where silica based optical fiber sensors present limitations. The introduction of new POF fiber types and materials also has great promise for the near future. While still at a development stage, the potential for polymer fiber Bragg grating sensors or microstructured POF sensors that can deform along with a flexible structure could be incorporated into thin film sensing devices or structural skins for a variety of aerospace, marine and civil engineering applications. Finally, this article emphasizes the importance of including strain rate and environmental conditions in the calibration of the response of POF sensors. Furthermore, it is important to calibrate the specific POF type to be applied as a sensor because of the differences in material properties, which vary considerably more than those of equivalent silica based optical fiber sensors.

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REFERENCES
1. Kara Peters, Smart Material and Structures, Polymer Optical Fiber Sensors, 2nd July 2010. 2. Jones Nji, Guoqiang Li Smart Material and Structures, A self-healing 3D woven fabric reinforced shape memory polymer composite for impact mitigation, 4th October 2009. 3. [1] Ziemann O, Krauser J, Zamzow P E and Daum W 2008 POF Handbook (Berlin: Springer) chapter 8 4. K. S. C. Kuang, S. T. Quek, C. G. Koh, W. J. Cantwell, and P. J. cully, Plastic Optical Fibre Sensors for Structural Monitoring 5. , Chen Shane Chu and Yu Lung Lo,an optical fiber sensor for dual sensing of temperature and oxygen

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