FBG-Based smart composite applications
Abstract
Optical Fiber Sensors (OFS) and mostly Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG)-based optical sensors provide accurate, non-intrusive, electromagnetic interference-immune and reliable remote measurements of temperature, strain and pressure. Tiny FBG sensors, embedded into the composite material, provide in-situ informations about polymer curing (strain, temperature, degree of cure) in an elegant and non-intrusive way. Great improvements in the composite manufacturing processess such as RTM or RFI are obtained with this method. Since the FBG sensors are embedded into the composite material, they may be used for healt monitoring of the structure and impact detection to evaluate air-worthiness of a flying structure. Finally, FBGs may be used as composite extensometers or plane rosette, or embedded on CFRP reinforcement plates mostly for civil engineering applications.