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Design and Construction Optical Fiber Sensor System for Detection the Stress
and Fine Motion

Article in International Journal of Advances in Applied Sciences · June 2013

DOI: 10.11591/ijaas.v2i2.459

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 International Journal of Nano Devices, Sensors and Systems (IJ-Nano)

Volume 1, No. 1, May 2012, pp. 25-33

Design and Construction of Optical Fiber Sensor System for

Detection of the Stress and Fine Motion

Bushra R. Mhdi*, Nahla A. Aljaber, Suad M. Aljwas, Abeer H. Khalid

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history: Two main concepts in design and construction of stress and fine motion
detection system using fiber optic sensor was included in this project .The
Received May 19, 2012 first is design and construction concept using Intensity Modulation
Revised May 24, 2012 techniques using plastic multimode optical fiber (125μm dim) and has
Accepted May 30, 2012 NA=0.27 with losses rate 2.1 db and directionality about 25 db, and we used
He-Ne laser source (632.8 nm) with LLM-2 light power meter to detect the
variation in output laser power due to micro-displacement for movement
Keyword: body under test. The second concept includes modeling for laser beam
tracking through fiber and that which reflected for mirror to detector.
fiber sensor Variation in output power due to target movement was theoretical analyzed
displacement sensor from study of variation of Gaussian front wave profile of using MATLAB
optical fiber program within displacement range from 0-5 mm. Non-linear relation
stress detection between separated distance and beam intensity was investigated. Finally our
design are evaluated in comparison with published research which found
compatible in theoretical and experimental results
© 2012 – Insitute of Advanced Engineeering and Science.
All rights reserved.

Affiliation
Laser and Optoelectronic Center,
The Ministry of Science and Technology,
Serious Material Building, 5th Level,
Al-Jadery, Baghdad - Iraq
*Corresponding author, email address: boshera65m@yahoo.com

1. INTRODUCTION
The fiber optic sensor is one of the most interesting and developing field. The fiber sensor are
becoming day by day more attractive over other sensors, due to immune to EMI, non-electrical, high
accuracy, easy to install, noncontact, explosion proof small size and weight, the fiber optic replaces other
sensors. A number of varieties of parameters like temperature, humidity, pressure, pH, chemical
concentration and displacement can be measured accurately [1,2].
Intensity-based sensor techniques have been studied and implemented in the last 25 years shown in
Fig. 1. Fiber optic sensors can be generally classified in two groups: extrinsic (fiber optic sensors
distinguished by the characteristic that sensing takes place in a region outside the fiber) and intrinsic (fiber
optic sensors characterized by the fact that sensing takes place within the fiber itself) [3– 5]. However,
optical fiber sensors also can be classified by their working principles. In Fig. 2 a general classification of
vibration sensors is shown: intensity-based sensors (IBSs) are those in which intensity is modulated by an
external parameter; Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPIs) are passive optical structures that utilize multiple-
beam interference in a cavity between two semi reflective surfaces. Fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) are
fabricated using a longitudinal periodic perturbation of the refractive index of the core of an optical fiber.

Journal homepage: http://iaesjournal.com/online/index.php/IJ-Nano ISSN: 2089-4848

26 IJ-NANO Vol. 1, No.1, May 2012, pp. 25-33

Fig. 1. Evolution of vibration intensity-based sensor [1].

Fig. 2. Vibration optical fiber sensors classification [2].

In displacement sensor, commonly two methods are adopted. The Phase-modulated interferometric
sensor [6, 7] and intensity modulated sensor based on reflection [1, 2]. The phase-modulated sensor compares
the phase of light in a sensing fiber to the reference fiber in a device known as an interferometer. Most
commonly intensity modulated sensors are used in displacement sensor. The displacement causes a change in
received light intensity, which is the function of displacement between fiber probe and reflecting surface.
This type of displacement sensor involves two fibers (single / bundle) one for sending and other for receiving
the reflected light as shown in Fig. 3.
In fiber optic displacement sensor the reflected light from mirror is coupled back into a fiber from a
reflecting surface and is compared this power with a portion of power emitted by the same light source [1-2].
In fiber optics displacement sensor wide range of configurations can be used, such as fiber
microbending, fiber-to-fiber coupling, moving masks/gratings, and modified cladding [6, 10–17]. These
sensors can be classified into two broad categories if physical contact with the vibrating object exists or not.
B.R. Mhdi, et al, “Design and Construction of Optical Fiber Sensor System” 27

Usually noncontact structures use a reflective signal to detect displacement or vibration while the other
structures (i.e. microbending) use the transmissive configuration.
The microbend sensor was one of the earliest Intensity-based sensors to be developed [6-7]. The
detection principle is based on the change of transmitted power as a function of pressure/stress. Basically, in
this structure, the light intensity decreases by the losses caused by the induced micro curvatures is shown in
Fig. 4.

Fig. 3. Two fibers displacement sensor technique.

Fig. 4. Microbends sensor structure [6].

Noncontact dynamic displacement sensors are commonly used for vibration detection. Fiber optic
vibration sensor based on intensity modulation can be designed by using the transmission technique, where
the coupling loss of power light is measured at two-movable ends of the fiber [3], and the reflection
technique, where the coupling loss factor of power light is measured due to the reflection of the moving
object [4, 5, 6]. In the reflection technique, the sensor can take form of a pair multimode bundled fiber [4],
single mode concentric bundled fiber [5], and multimode fiber coupler.
Fabry -Perot interferometers are optical structures that utilize multiple-beam interference in a cavity
between two semi-reflective surfaces. The basic structure of the Fabry-Perot optical sensors is based in two
plane and parallel surfaces with partial reflectivity so that multiple rays of light are responsible for creation of
the observed interference patterns.
Fiber Bragg gratings (FGBs) are optical fiber devices that consist in a longitudinal periodic
perturbation of the refractive index of the core of an optical fiber. Such periodic variation of the optical
properties of the fiber confers to it unique optical properties that make these devices ideal for optical sensing
applications. The optical properties of an FBG device arise from a series of partial reflectors arranged with a
determined spatial period. In the optical fiber FBG, such reflectors are fabricated by altering the refractive
index of the core of the optical fiber in a periodic manner, creating dielectric partial mirrors, and
consequently a series of interferences occurs as the light travels through the device [8,9]. In consequence,
certain wavelengths which have a constant relation with the period of the refractive index perturbation
experiment a strong transmission blockage. Such wavelengths are reflected by the FBG structure, while the
device keeps unaltered the rest of the wavelengths, therefore the FBG acts as a wavelength selective reflector
[10,11].
28 IJ-NANO Vol. 1, No.1, May 2012, pp. 25-33

2. THEORETICAL MODEL
The basic setup of Vibration sensor consists of laser, detector, fiber, and target mirror with
configuration shown in Fig. 5. The basic principle to measure the displacement of z is to compare the power
light reflected by mirror which is coupled back to port sensing with respect to the power light received by
detector Pd. The power light received by detector Pd depends on the distance between received fiber and
mirror surface.

Fig. 5. The basic setup for displacement sensor using multimode fiber.

Fig. 6. Evaluating scheme for power light emitted and received by fiber.

The Gaussian beam is used to analyze the Vibration sensor theoretically. It is assumed the cross-
section surface of the end of received fibers is plan and parallel to the mirror surface and the outgoing beam
from received fibers is represent by perfectly symmetrical cone with divergence angle θ as shown in Fig. 6
[12]. The parameters a and W(z) in Fig. 6 refer to fiber radius and beam radius respectively; the angle θ
corresponds to the fiber numerical aperture which is stated as NA= sin -1θ for air medium.
If mirror is parallel to sensing port cross-section, then the power light, which is coupled back to the
sensing port, can be determined by
(1)
where Pt is the total power light which is not z-dependent [7]. It is straightforward from Fig. 6 that
W(z)=2 z tan ө+a (2)
Substitute Equation (2) into (1) and give
Pb=Pt } 1-exp[-2/(cz+1)]} (3)
B.R. Mhdi, et al, “Design and Construction of Optical Fiber Sensor System” 29

where c = (2 tan (sin-1(NA))/a which makes c is the constant that is determined by the fiber radius
and numerical aperture. Light transmission process from the source with power light Pin arrive in received
fiber and give
Pe=(1-cr)(10-0.1Le- 10-0.1D)Pin (4)
where cr, Le, and D are coupling ratio, excess loss, and directivity of the fiber coupler respectively.
If z = 0, then Equation (3) gives Pb = Pe so Pt = 1.15 Pe. Thus, Equation (3) becomes
Pb=1.15(1-cr)(10-0.1Le- 10-0.1D) Pin [1-exp(-2/(cz+1)2)] (5)
The light back-transmission process from the sensing port to detector gives
Pd=cr(10-0.1Le -10-0.1D)Pb (6)
Where Pb is the power light received by detector. Substitute Equation (6) into (5) yield Where Pb is
the power light received by detector. Substitute Equation (6) into (5) yield
Pd=Po(1-exp(-2/(cz+1))) (7)
which is restricted by
Po=1.15 cr(1-cr)(10-0.1Le +10-0.1D)2 Pin (8)
sensor with multimode fiber coupler. Equation (7) is the correlation function of the displacement.

3. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 4. It consists of He-Ne laser (Klasse DIN 58126, 632.8 nm,
Uniphase) with 2 mW power output, multimode fiber, a planar mirror (front-silvered, 46320, Leybold), a set
of displacement equipment with order 5 μm (Uniphase), LLM-2 light power meter detector, and micro
voltmeter (Leybold), multimode plastic optical fiber 1 mm diameter (core diameter is 200 μm and cladding
thickness is 20 μm) and 10 cm in length.
The experimental test were performed for mirror distances z in range of 0 mm to about 5mm at
500µm steps. The light is launched into the one end of the fiber. The mirror is mounted on a fine-tuned
micrometer translational stage, where the distance between the output fiber tip and the mirror can be varied in
the successive steps of 500 μm.
The detector model 818-SL (Newport) is used as detector that measures the light reflected from the
mirror. The detector is connected to a power meter model (LLM-2 light power meter), which measures power
in terms of μW. The power is measured against the corresponding change in micrometer translational
stage.To plot the realation between the theoretical received power and the virable distance must be written
a program by using MATLAB program at variable distance (0-5mm) to solve Equation ( 7).The flow chart of
the main program is shown in Fig. 9. Theoretical value for P0 (given by Equation (8) and substituting cr =
0.25, Le = 1.37 dB, D = 25 dB, Pin = 2 mW) is 77.98 μW; and for c (given by 2 tan (sin-1(NA)/a and
substituting a = 200, NA = 0.27) is 2.8x 10-3/μm.

Mirror

He-Ne Laser(2mw( Transmitted Fiber

Power
meter Received Fiber

Lens

Fig. 7. Block diagram of experimental work

30 IJ-NANO Vol. 1, No.1, May 2012, pp. 25-33

Fig. 8. The photograph of experimental setup.

Start

Cr=0.25,Le=1.37,D=25,
a=62.5,Pin=2mw,Na=0.27

C=2 TAN(SIN-1(Na)/a)
Pd=PO(1-exp(-2/(cz+1)2)

PO=1.15cr(1-cr)(10-0.1Le - 10-0.1D)2Pin

FOR Z=0 TO 5 Then 0.5

No IF Z=5

Yes

Plot(z,pd)

End

Fig. 9. Flow chart of the main program.

B.R. Mhdi, et al, “Design and Construction of Optical Fiber Sensor System” 31

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The variable of the distance (z) with respect of detector voltage is shown in Fig. 10. The graph
exhibits the nonlinear characteristics along variable distance. The power light, which detected then, is plotted
with respect to displacement of the mirror as shown in Fig. 11. The linear region is the work region of the
displacement sensor. The slope of the linear region gives the sensitivity of sensor.
Fig. 12 shows the correlation function in Equation (7). Theoretical prediction for P0 (given by
Equation (8) and substituting cr = 0.25, Le = 1.37 dB, D = 25 dB, Pin = 2 mW) is 70.98 μW; and for c (given
by 2 tan (sin-1(NA)/a and substituting a = 62.5, NA = 0.27) is 2.2 x 10-3/μm.
The experimental results obtained are in close agreement with theoretical values as calculated using
Equation (7).

Fig. 10. The relation between voltage detector and variable distance

Detection power for varible distance

0.75

0.7

0.65
Detection power in micro watt

0.6

0.55

0.5

0.45

0.4

0.35

0.3

0.25
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
The varible distancein mm

Fig. 11. Plotting power light received by detector with respect to mirror’s displacement.
32 IJ-NANO Vol. 1, No.1, May 2012, pp. 25-33

80
70
60
50
power (µw) 40
30
20
10
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
distance (µm)

Fig. 12. Theoretical result between variable distance against output power

5. CONCLUSION
Based on intensity modulation a simple and effective fiber optic micro-displacement sensor
technique is presented. The results are non linear for light of wavelength 632.8 nm. Due to the simplest and
compact design of such type of sensors, they find applications in industries as monitoring automated control,
position control and micro displacement measurements in the hazardous regions. Such type of micro-
displacement sensor has relatively small measurable displacement range, but very sensitive over a small
range.

REFERENCES
[1] Yoany Rodrıguez Garcıa, Jesus M. Corres, and Javier Goicoechea, “Vibration Detection Using Optical Fiber
Sensors”, Journal of Sensors Vol.1, p. 1-12, July 2010.
[2] Fidanboylu, K.A, and Efendioglu, H. S, ”Fiber optics and their application”, Proc. 5th International Advanced
Technologies Symposium (IATS’09), 13-15 May 2009, p. 145-150.
[3] Vijay K. Kulkarni, Anandkumar S. Lalasangi, I. I. Pattanashetti, U. S. Raikar, “Fiber optic micro-displacement
sensor using coupler”, Journal of Optoelectronic and Advance Material Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 1610 – 1612, August
2006.
[4] Samian, Yono Hadi Pramono, Ali Yunus Rohedi, Febdian Rusydi, A.H. Zaidan, “Theoretical and experimental
study of fiber optic displacement sensor using multimode fiber coupler”, Journal of Optoelectronics and
Biomedical Materials Vol. 1, Issue 3, p. 303 – 308, September 2009.
[5] Giuliano Conforti, Massimo Brenci, Andrea Mencaglia, and Anna Grazia Mignani, “Fiber optic vibration sensor for
remote monitoring in high power electric machines”, Applied Optics, Vol. 28, No. 23, p. 5158-5161, December
1989.
[6] P.G. Davis and I.J. Bush, “Fiber Optic Displacement Sensor”, Fourth Pacific Northwest Fiber Optic Sensor
Workshop, SPIE Vol 3765, May 6, 1998, p. 101-105.
[7] S. Miclos, T. Zisu, “Chalcogenide fiber displacement sensor”, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials
Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 373 – 376, June 2001.
[8] Chi Wu, “Fiber optic angular displacement sensor”, Rev. Sci. Instrum. Vol. 66 No. 6, p. 3672-3675, June 1996.
[9] Michael I. Shribak, Victor L. Kolpashchikov and Oleg G. Martynenko, “Fiber Optic Sensor of Linear
Displacement”, SPIE Vol. 2895, 1996, p. 305-310.
[10] N. Sathitanon, and S. Pullteap, “A Fiber Optic Interferometric Sensor for Dynamic Measurement”, World Academy
of Science, Engineering and Technology, Vol. 35 No.2, p. 246-249, 2007.
[11] V. Svyryd, N.N. Solis Osorno, and M.E. Enrıquez Salazar, “An analysis of a displacement sensor based on optical
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[12] Bahareh Gholamzadeh, and Hooman Nabovati, “Fiber Optic Sensors”, World Academy of Science, Engineering
and Technology Vol. 42 No. 3, p. 335-340, 2008.
 B.R. Mhdi, et al, “Design and Construction of Optical Fiber Sensor System” 33

BIOGRAPHY OF AUTHORS
Bushra R. Mhdi was born in Bagdad, Iraq in 1966. She received B.S degree in electrical
First author’s Engineering from Technology University, in 1987, M.S degree in Laser Application in
Photo (3x4cm) Electrical Engineering (Institute of Laser and Plasma) in 2001 and the Ph.D degree in
laser Engineering from Technology University /Iraq-Bagdad in 2009. She joined the
Laser and Optoelectronic Center in Ministry of Science and Technology in 2009, and
carried out research in laser a design system and laser application. In 2010 she formed
fiber communication section and began program in optical fiber sensor. She has
numerous publication in the areas of fiber laser, laser system design and fiber sensor
technology.

Nahla A. Aljaber was born in Bagdad, Iraq in 1969. She received B.S degree in Physics
Second author’s Science from Technology University, in 1992, M.S degree in Laser Application in
photo(3x4cm) Physics Science (Institute of Laser and Plasma) in 2003. She joined the Laser and
Optoelectronic Center in Ministry of Science and Technology in 2009, and carried out
research in laser a design system and laser application. In 2010 she formed fiber
communication section and began program in optical fiber sensor.

Suad M. Aljwas was born in Bagdad, Iraq in 1969. She received B.S degree in Physics
Science from Technology University, in 1992. She joined the Laser and Optoelectronic
Center in Ministry of Science and Technology in 2009, and carried out research in laser a
design system and laser application. In 2010 she formed fiber communication section
and began program in optical fiber sensor.

Abeer H. Khalid was born in Bagdad, Iraq in 1975. She received B.S degree in Physics
Science from Bagdad University in 1997. She joined the Laser and Optoelectronic
Center in Ministry of Science and Technology in 2009, and carried out research in
Spectroscopy system and laser application. In 2010 she formed fiber communication
section and began program in optical fiber sensor.

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