Optical fiber sensors coated with linear work hardening elastic-plastic materials are analytically explored to determine the effects which the coating properties have on the sensor performance. The optical fiber system is subjected to both an axial load and an arbitrary thermal gradient. An important consequence of the non-linear analysis is the discovery that this coated fiber system can be exploited to serve as an alternative to the conventional fiber breakage sensor for sensing impact damage. The non-linear analysis reveals a mechanism for designing coatings which provide a 'memory' to the fiber-optic sensor by undergoing permanent deformations in response to large thermal or mechanical strain excursions. Such sensors can be utilized to maintain a permanent record of the load/damage history of a loaded structure.

Date Published: 1 December 1991
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 1588, Fiber Optic Smart Structures and Skins IV, (1 December 1991); doi: 10.1117/12.50167

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1588:
Fiber Optic Smart Structures and Skins IV
Richard O. Claus; Eric Udd, Editor(s)