Combined optical fiber interferometric sensors for the detection of acoustic emission

Abstract

A type of combined optical fiber interferometric acoustic emission sensor is proposed. The sensor can be independent on the laser source and make light interference by matching the lengths of two arms, so it can be used to monitor the health of large structure. Theoretical analyses indicate that the system can be equivalent to the Michelson interferometer with two optical fiber loop reflectors, and its sensitivity has been remarkably increased because of the decrease of the losses of light energy. PZT is powered by DC regulator to control the operating point of the system, so the system can accurately detect feeble vibration which is generated by ultrasonic waves propagating on the surface of solid. The amplitude and the frequency of feeble vibration signal are obtained by detecting the output light intensity of interferometer and using Fourier transform technique. The results indicate that the system can be used to detect the acoustic emission signals by the frequency characteristics.

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