A mechanical resonant piezo-optical ring sensor was studied, designed to selectively enhance the response of piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. The frequency characteristics of the ring sensor were modeled through modal and harmonic analyses. The models were used to guide the experimentation, serving as a basis for comparison and implementation. Pitch-catch, resonance, and acoustic emission (AE) experiments were performed to compare the performance of the ring sensor to plate-mounted PWAS and FBG. Factors relating to optimal in-service implementation, particularly symmetric placement of FBG and PWAS, were investigated. It was found that the ring sensor was capable of amplifying an incoming Lamb wave signal. This was applied to AE experiments, where selective frequencies were amplified such that the time-domain signal had a larger amplitude response.

Date Published: 27 March 2015
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 9436, Smart Sensor Phenomena, Technology, Networks, and Systems Integration 2015, 94360B (27 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2084457

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9436:
Smart Sensor Phenomena, Technology, Networks, and Systems Integration 2015
Kara J. Peters, Editor(s)