Plastic optical fiber displacement sensor based on dual cycling bending

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Fiber Optic Sensors
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Plastic optical fibers (POFs) offer advantages in sensor fabrication and cost.
• Displacement sensing is crucial in various industrial and scientific applications.
• Improving the sensitivity and accuracy of optical fiber sensors is an ongoing research area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel, highly sensitive, and easily fabricated plastic optical fiber (POF) displacement sensor.
• To investigate the impact of dual cyclic bending on POF sensor sensitivity.
• To analyze the influence of key design parameters on sensor performance.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a POF specimen for dual cyclic bending.
• Experimental analysis of sensor response to varying roller intervals, relative displacements, and roller numbers.
• Numerical modeling to simulate sensor behavior and validate experimental findings.
• Derivation of a linear equation correlating power loss with relative displacement.

Main Results:

• Dual cyclic bending significantly enhances the sensitivity of the POF displacement sensor.
• The interval between rollers was identified as the most critical design parameter affecting sensitivity.
• Experimental measurements and numerical calculations showed excellent agreement.
• A derived linear equation predicted displacement with less than 8% error compared to experimental data.

Conclusions:

• The proposed dual cyclic bending POF displacement sensor demonstrates high sensitivity and accuracy.
• The sensor design is practical due to its ease of fabrication and reliable performance.
• The findings provide a validated method for accurate displacement detection using POF sensors.