Regenerated fiber Bragg grating for fiber laser sensing at high temperatures

Thermally regenerated low-reflectivity fiber Bragg gratings（RFBGs）, as one mirror of a resonant cavity, have been introduced as linear-cavity fiber lasers combining with fiber saturable absorbers. The output of lasing presents an optical signal-to-noise ratio of 50 dB and temperature sensitivity coefficient of 15.36 pm∕℃ for the heating process and 15.46 pm∕℃ for the cooling process. The lasing wavelength variation and power fluctuation at 700℃ are less than 0.02 nm and 0.21 dB, respectively. The RFBG-based fiber laser sensing has displayed good linearity for both the temperature rising and cooling processes, and favorable stability at high temperatures.

Determination of Surface Roughness in Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing Based on Laser Vision Sensing

Wire and arc additive manufacturing(WAAM) shows a great promise for fabricating fully dense metal parts by means of melting materials in layers using a welding heat source. However, due to a large layer height produced in WAAM, an unsatisfactory surface roughness of parts processed by this technology has been a key issue. A methodology based on laser vision sensing is proposed to quantitatively calculate the surface roughness of parts deposited by WAAM.Calibrations for a camera and a laser plane of the optical system are presented. The reconstruction precision of the laser vision system is verified by a standard workpiece. Additionally, this determination approach is utilized to calculate the surface roughness of a multi-layer single-pass thin-walled part. The results indicate that the optical measurement approach based on the laser vision sensing is a simple and effective way to characterize the surface roughness of parts deposited by WAAM. The maximum absolute error is less than 0.15 mm. The proposed research provides the foundation for surface roughness optimization with different process parameters.

Photonic crystal fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer with microholes ablated by a femtosecond laser for refractive index sensing

A new structure of the photonic crystal fiber（PCF）based Mach-Zednder interferometer（MZI）is fabricated and presented.The structure has microholes ablated by a femtosecond laser.The fringe visibility can be enhanced more than 10 dB compared with the interferometer without a microhole.The interferometer is characterized by sodium chloride solutions for refractive index（RI）sensing.The RI sensitivities are greatly increased by the hole fabrication since it directly changes the cladding modes of the PCF.For the interferometer sensor with two holes,the RI sensitivity is 157.74 nm/RIU,which is 5 times than that of the sensor without a microhole.Microholes ablation with a femtosecond laser on PCF can increase the sensor＇s sensitivity dramatically.Femtosecond laser has a wide application prospect in the field of performance improvement of the sensors.

Structure Design of Disposable Ocean Temperature Depth Sensing Probe Based on F-P Cavity and FBG

The basic principle of sensing is the combination of F-P cavity interference and fiber grating reflection. A hybrid structure sensor probe has been designed based on the combination of an F-P cavity of liquid-filled thermometer structure, and a fiber grating with an elastic diaphragm, herein F-P cavity is used for temperature sensing, and the fiber grating is used for pressure sensing. By adopting the dual optical path structure, the dual-parameter detection of temperature and depth is realized, which solves the problem of low accuracy caused by the cross response of temperature and pressure of a single sensor device and the calculation of the depth information of the ocean with empirical formulas. Compared with traditional sensors, the sensitivity is effectively improved. Theoretical analysis shows that the sensitivity of the F-P cavity with a thermometer structure filled with kerosene reaches 1.334 nm/?C, and the depth sensitivity of the fiber grating is 284.6 pm/Mpa within the ocean depth range of 0 - 400 m.

Optical SDMA for applying compressive sensing in WSN

In order to apply compressive sensing in wireless sensor network, inside the nodes cluster classified by the spatial correlation, we propose that a cluster head adopts free space optical communication with space division multiple access, and a sensor node uses a modulating retro-reflector for communication. Thus while a random sampling matrix is used to guide the establishment of links between head cluster and sensor nodes, the random linear projection is accomplished. To establish multiple links at the same time, an optical space division multiple access antenna is designed. It works in fixed beams switching mode and consists of optic lens with a large field of view（FOV）, fiber array on the focal plane which is used to realize virtual channels segmentation, direction of arrival sensor, optical matrix switch and controller. Based on the angles of nodes＇ laser beams, by dynamically changing the route, optical matrix switch actualizes the multi-beam full duplex tracking receiving and transmission. Due to the structure of fiber array, there will be several fade zones both in the focal plane and in lens＇ FOV. In order to lower the impact of fade zones and harmonize multibeam, a fiber array adjustment is designed. By theoretical, simulated and experimental study, the antenna＇s qualitative feasibility is validated.

Rapid seismic analysis methodology for in-service wind turbine towers

The wind energy industry has been growing rapidly during the past decades.Along with this growth,engineering problems have gradually emerged in the wind power industry,including those related to the structural reliability of turbine towers.This study proposes a rapid seismic analysis methodology for existing wind turbine tower structures.The method is demonstrated and validated using a case study on a 1.5 MW tubular steel wind turbine tower.Three finite element(FE)models are developed first.Field tests are conducted to obtain the turbine tower’s vibrational characteristics.The tests include(1) remotely measuring the tower vibration frequencies using a long range laser Doppler Vibrometer and(2) monitoring the tower structural vibration by mounting accelerometers along the height of the tubular structure.In-situ measurements are used to validate and update the FE models of the wind turbine tower.With the updated FE model that represents the practical structural conditions,seismic analyses are performed to study the structural failure,which is defined by the steel yielding of the tubular tower.This research is anticipated to benefit the management of the increasing number of wind energy converters by providing an understanding of the seismic assessment of existing tubular steel wind turbine towers.