Fiber Grating-Based Strain Sensor Array for Health Monitoring of Pipelines

Pipelines are one of the most important modern energy transportation methods,used especially for the transportation of certain dangerous energy media materials such as crude oil,natural gas,and chemical raw materials.New requirements have been put forward for the health monitoring and early security warning of pipelines because of the large-scale and complicated development trend of the pipe network system.To achieve an accurate assessment of the health conditions of pipeline infrastructure,obtaining as many precise operating parameters as possible,particularly at some critical parts of the pipeline,is necessary.Therefore,a novel type of fiber grating strain sensor array is proposed herein to monitor the pipeline hoop strain.The sensor utilizes fiber grating characteristics such as light weight,corrosion resistance,remote transmission,and strong environmental adaptability.The fiber containing the grating measurement points is implanted into the composite material to complete the sensitization encapsulation and protection of the bare fiber grating.The design of the sensor array fulfills the requirements for monitoring pipeline mass data,making it easy to form a pipeline health monitoring sensor network.The sensor sensitivity is researched by using a combination of theoretical and experimental analysis.A sensitivity test,as well as linearity and stability tests,are performed on the sensor.The experimental results show that the average sensitivity of the sensor is 14.86 pm/με,and the error from the theoretical calculation analysis value is 8.75%.Due to its high reliability,good linear response and long-term stability,and the ability to reflect the exact strain change of the outer wall of the pipeline,the designed sensor can support longterm online pipeline monitoring.The fiber grating sensor array network has successfully realized the monitoring of the pipeline’s internal operation by using external strain changes.In addition to the performance benefits,there are other merits associated with the applicability of the sensor namely simple structure,compact size,manufacturing ease,and exterior installation ease.

An Interrogation System Based on Two Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers for Weak Fiber Bragg Gratings

An interrogation system based on two semiconductor optical amplifiers for weak fiber Bragg gratings （FBGs） was proposed. The first semiconductor optical amplifier （SOA） was used to modulate the light, and the second SOA separated the reflected signal from the different FBGs through delayed switching. The proposed system has lower insertion loss and higher spatial resolution, and can interrogate the time- and wavelength-division multiplexed FBG array. Up to 50 FBGs, with a reflectivity of 0.2% and a spatial resolution of 5 m along the optical fiber, were distinguished to demonstrate the interrogation system.

Study on Influence of Crack on the Blade Status Using FBGs

The status detection for rotating parts is difficult since the sensor is influenced by the rotation in the inflammable, explosive, and strong magnetic environment. Based on the fiber Bragg grating sensing technology, this paper studies the influence of the natural frequency and deformation of a rotor blade affected by the size of crack in the blade. Test results show that the speed of the equipment and blade excited vibration frequency are two main factors or deformation and vibration frequency of the blade. With an increase in the crack depth, the blade deformation is increased while the stimulated natural frequency of the blade is decreased; at a low rotational speed, the deformation is mainly caused by the rotating speed of the blade. On the contrary, the vibration blade itself contributes to the deformation at a high speed. During the process of full speed rotation, the influence of the rotational speed on the blade deformation almost remains the same, and the influence of the natural vibration on blade deformation is increased with an increase in the rotational speed.