Monitoring of Vibrations Using Multimode Optical Fiber Sensors

The measurement of vibrations is an important technique for the in-service evaluation and monitoring of machines and civil structures. For such measurement, optical fiber sensors are very promising candidates as optical fibers are electromagnetic interference-and hazard-free and their use enables the sensors to be operated remotely with the electronics and electrical connections situated away from the sensing sites, which is a major advantage in many applications. In this work, multimode optical fiber sensors are used to monitor the vibrations of an industrial sewing machine. The measurement is based on vibration sensing using multimode interference in a proposed sensor configuration which is simple in construction and straight forward to operate. The principle of operation, the results obtained and suggested further investigations of the proposed sensors are discussed.