Long-range displacement sensor based on SMS fiber structure and OTDR

Abstract

This paper presents a long-range displacement measurement method by using a single-multi-single mode (SMS) fiber structure, attached to a flexible plate between two permanent poles and the optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR)-based interrogator. The SMS fiber structure sensors are prepared with two different configurations, i.e. straight and sinusoidal configurations. It is demonstrated that the displacement sensor can perform a displacement measurement with a range from 0 mm to 150 mm with a resolution of 0.159 mm. The sinusoidal configuration provides a better sensitivity than the straight configuration. The proposed sensor offers a low cost, and it can be implemented for quasi-distributed displacement measurement which is suitable for civil structure monitoring.