An optical fiber Bragg grating and piezoelectric ceramic voltage sensor

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Sensor Technology
• Materials Science

Background:

• Accurate voltage measurement is critical across diverse industries, including power grids, telecommunications, and oil production.
• Existing voltage sensing methods often require expensive demodulation equipment, limiting their widespread engineering application.
• Developing a cost-effective and reliable optical voltage sensor is therefore highly desirable.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and fabricate a novel optical over-voltage sensor.
• To demonstrate a sensor design that eliminates the need for complex demodulation devices.
• To establish the sensor's performance characteristics, including linearity, frequency range, and temperature stability.

Main Methods:

• A sensing unit was constructed using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and piezoelectric ceramics.
• The inverse piezoelectric effect was utilized to induce FBG deformation upon voltage application.
• Changes in FBG center wavelength were correlated with output light intensity, establishing a voltage-intensity relationship.
• A reference grating was employed to enhance signal detection.

Main Results:

• The fabricated optical over-voltage sensor demonstrated good linearity in its input-output characteristics.
• The sensor operated effectively across a wide sensing frequency range (50 Hz to 20 kHz) and with switching impulse waves.
• Temperature validation confirmed the sensor's robust temperature stability.
• The sensor proved capable of direct voltage monitoring and high voltage measurement when coupled with a voltage divider.

Conclusions:

• The developed optical over-voltage sensor offers a cost-effective solution for voltage measurement in various industrial fields.
• The sensor's design, leveraging FBGs and piezoelectric ceramics, simplifies the sensing system by avoiding specialized demodulation equipment.
• The sensor exhibits excellent performance metrics, including linearity, a broad frequency response, and temperature stability, making it suitable for practical engineering applications.