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Coherent Fiber-Optic Sensor for Ultra-Acoustic Crack Emissions
Ilaria Di Luch1, Maddalena Ferrario2, Davide Fumagalli3
1Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Biomedica, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 24, 2021
Summary
A new coherent optical fiber sensor effectively detects acoustic emissions from crack propagation in metals. This fiber optic sensor offers a sensitive and advantageous alternative for monitoring structural fatigue damage.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Structural Health Monitoring
- Optical Sensing Technologies
Background:
- Structural integrity is crucial in engineering applications.
- Fatigue damage in ferrous materials can lead to catastrophic failures.
- Existing acoustic emission (AE) monitoring systems have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel coherent optical fiber sensor for AE detection.
- To evaluate the sensor's sensitivity and performance in crack monitoring.
- To compare the fiber optic sensor with traditional AE sensors.
Main Methods:
- Development of a coherent optical fiber sensing system.
- Experimental setup to detect AE during crack propagation in ferrous materials.
- Comparative analysis of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and detectable AE energy with commercial piezo-transducers.
Main Results:
- The optical fiber sensor demonstrated adequate sensitivity for AE detection.
- Performance metrics (SNR, AE energy levels) were comparable to commercial AE sensors.
- The proposed sensor proved effective in sensing crack propagation.
Conclusions:
- Coherent optical fiber sensing is a viable technology for AE monitoring.
- The developed sensor offers an effective and advantageous alternative for structural fatigue damage assessment.
- This technology holds promise for enhanced structural health monitoring applications.
