Continuous strain measurement along a span
First Claim
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1. A fiber optic load measuring system comprising:
- (a) an light source;
(b) a fiber optic attenuator in optical communication with said light source, said attenuator having a selected thickness and formed to have at least one curved portion along the length thereof, said curved portion having a curve radius and a curve period, said curved portion being disposed in load transfer relation with a surface where the load is to be measured so that the curve radius and curve period are variable in response to an applied load, said curved portion being dimensioned so that light is attenuated in direct linear relation to deformation of said curved portion in response to an instantaneous applied load over a substantial range of applied load;
(c) a photodetector in optical communication with said attenuator, said photodetector being operative to receive light signals reflected by said attenuator; and
(d) a signal processor connected to said photodetector and operative to detect and measure reflected light signals attributable to the application of the instantaneous load on the surface, said processor being further operative to translate the reflected light signals to compute the instantaneous applied load.
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Abstract
A fiber optic load measuring system, and method of constructing the same, are disclosed which comprises a light source, a fiber optic attenuator, a photodetector, and a signal processor. The fiber optic attenuator was formed to have a curved portion along the length thereof disposed in low transfer relation with the surface where the load is to be measured. The signal processor is adapted to receive signals from the photodetector and measure variations attributable to the application of a load on the surface. The processor is further adapted to linearly translate the detected variations to compute deformation of the curved portion in response to an applied load.
74 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A fiber optic load measuring system comprising:
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(a) an light source; (b) a fiber optic attenuator in optical communication with said light source, said attenuator having a selected thickness and formed to have at least one curved portion along the length thereof, said curved portion having a curve radius and a curve period, said curved portion being disposed in load transfer relation with a surface where the load is to be measured so that the curve radius and curve period are variable in response to an applied load, said curved portion being dimensioned so that light is attenuated in direct linear relation to deformation of said curved portion in response to an instantaneous applied load over a substantial range of applied load; (c) a photodetector in optical communication with said attenuator, said photodetector being operative to receive light signals reflected by said attenuator; and (d) a signal processor connected to said photodetector and operative to detect and measure reflected light signals attributable to the application of the instantaneous load on the surface, said processor being further operative to translate the reflected light signals to compute the instantaneous applied load. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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18. A method for measuring a load applied to a surface comprising:
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(a) bending an optical fiber having a selected thickness to form at least one curved portion along the length thereof said optical fiber being formed to have a curve radius and a curve period, said curve radius and said curve period being variable in response to an applied load, said curve radius and said fiber thickness being selected so light passing through said curved portion is attenuated in linear relation to the deformation of said curved portion in response to an instantaneous applied load over a substantial range of applied load; (b) disposing said optical fiber curved portion in load transfer relation to the surface where a load is to be applied; (c) communicating a light signal to the optical fiber curved portion; (d) receiving a return light signal reflected from said optical fiber curved portion; and (e) processing said return light signal to determine the load applied, said processing comprising linearly translating deviations in the return signal to determine the instantaneous applied load. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification