Distributed fiber-optic sensor for dynamic strain measurement

A novel Brillouin-based distributed sensing technique is presented that can obtain the strain profile of the entire sensing fiber with a single optical pulse. Experimentally obtained spectra show that this comb excited pump signal is capable of strain and temperature measurement in a dynamic system. The results show the expected sinusoidal strain profile for a 12 s periodic strain cycle applied to the test fiber. The strain distribution for the entire fiber was obtained in 256 mu s, thereby demonstrating for the first time, the potential to measure dynamic strains up to 3.9 kHz with 12 m resolution. Increased acquisition speed comes at the expense of achievable spatial resolution.