The study and development of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems for aerospace applications is one of the best
challenges for the research in the field of fiber optic (FO) sensors. The harsh environments in which these aerospace
structures have to work are the major limit for the employment of standard fiber optic sensors for the thermo-mechanical
monitoring processes. Thermal loads which act on these structures do not allow using standard fiber optic sensors used
for classic avionics application. In fact, many aerospace structures can be exposed to temperatures up to 1000°C, higher
than the operation temperature of the standard fiber optic sensors. In this paper a new fiber optic system for structural
analysis of ultra high temperature ceramic (UHTC) materials is proposed. A tunable laser source is used to easily
measure the spectral response of different fiber optic sensors. Moreover the employment of an in-fiber optical circulator
and TLC 1x4 optical switch, allows to perform a multi-sensor interrogation, to analyse many physical parameters, such
as: temperature, strain, pressure, etc.. In particular the monitoring system has been used to test high temperature resistant
Fiber Bragg Grating sensors. The first tests at high temperature, up to 600°C, have shown a good response in terms of:
sensitivity, resolution, repeatability and dynamic range of the measurement. At last, the flexibility of the electro-optical
system developed for the interrogation of the fiber optic sensors, allows the extension of the instruments to mechanical
stress analysis, using custom fiber optic strain sensors currently under development.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.