Stress distribution and induced birefringence analysis for pressure vector sensing based on single mode fibers

We propose a theoretical approach to analyze the pressure stress distribution in single mode fibers (SMFs) and achieve the analytical expression of stress function, from which we obtain the stress components with their patterns in the core and compute their induced birefringence. Then we perform a pressure vector sensing based on similar to 2 km SMF. Using Mueller matrix method we measure the birefringence vectors which are employed to compute the pressure magnitudes and their orientation. When rotating the pressure around the fiber, the corresponding birefringence vector rotates around a circle with double speed. Statistics show the average deviation of calculated pressure-magnitude to practical value is similar to 0.17 N and it is similar to 0.85 for orientation. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.