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Here, the three-dimensional (3D) shape monitoring of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-reinforced silicone substrate for a morphing wing is detailed, using Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. An optical fiber FBG sensor was embedded into a soft silicone substrate, which was glued onto the surface of a PVC substrate. This substrate was aligned with the morphing wing’s flexible ribs of the. Sensing experiments were carried out both with and without the PVC reinforced silicone substrate, and the sensitivity and repeatability of the two sensors were compared. The PVC-reinforced silicone substrate sensor was calibrated using standard curvature calibration blocks to obtain a relationship between wavelength shift and the bending curvature of the PVC-reinforced silicone substrate, and the wing shape was reconstructed at different deformation states. Several wing shapes were also reconstructed using a precise visual measurement system. Comparing the FBG sensing method with this visual measurement system demonstrated the effectiveness of the FBG method proposed here. Its maximum error was

To meet the demands for curvature measurement in the field of biomedical intelligent equipment, soft robots and complex structures of major infrastructures, an optical fiber based soft curvature sensor is proposed. The major contribution is obtaining a soft curvature sensor with extraordinary high sensitivity and repeatability. A silicone rubber sheet is glued on the surface of polyvinyl chloride to form polyvinyl chloride (PVC) reinforced silicone rubber substrate, the fiber Bragg grating is embedded into the substrate to form the sensor. The sensor is calibrated using standard curvature calibration blocks. The characteristic of the reflected spectrum of the sensor is analyzed. The relation between the sensitivity and the fiber embedded depth is obtained. The research results prove that the real-time measurement of structure curvature can be realized by the sensor. The polyvinyl chloride reinforced silicone rubber substrate is helpful to improve the sensitivity and repeatability of the sensor. The maximum sensitivity is up to 329.2pm/m−1. The sensor has good consistency in repeated measurements, it has application presents in measuring the curvature of flexible mechanisms and complex structures.

A tunable C-band multi-wavelength ring cavity erbium-doped fiber laser based on a Sagnac loop and tunable filter was developed and experimentally demonstrated. In this fiber laser, a Sagnac loop fabricated using a 3 × 3 coupler and polarization-maintaining fiber is employed as the comb filter. A 4-m-long C-band and 0.8-m-long L-band erbium-doped fiber serve as the gain medium, and a tunable filter connected to the 3 × 3 coupler is used for laser wavelength adjustment. In the experiment described herein, switchable single-wavelength lasing was realized from 1528.6 nm to 1562.5 nm in 4.9-nm intervals, and the peak power variation was less than 1.12 dB during 10 min of scanning at 26 °C. In addition, switchable double- and triple-wavelength lasing were realized, for which the tunable wavelength scope was 28.6 nm and 19.9 nm, and the power fluctuation was less than 1.14 dB and 1.39 dB, respectively.

An optical fiber microdisplacement sensor based on symmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with a seven-core fiber and two single-mode fiber balls is proposed. The rationality and manufacturing process of the MZI sensing structure are analyzed. The fabrication mechanism of the Mach-Zehnder sensor by CO2 laser is described in detail. Experimental results show that temperature sensitivities of the two dips are 98.65 pm/°C and 89.72 pm/°C, respectively. The microdisplacement sensitivities are 2017.71 pm/mm and 2457.92 pm/mm, respectively. The simultaneous measurement of temperature and microdisplacement is demonstrated based on the sensitive matrix. The proposed Mach-Zehnder interference sensor exhibits the advantages of compact structure, simple manufacturing process, and high reliability.

Numerous studies have addressed various methods to interrogate fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). However, conventional methods are ineffective for multipeak FBG demodulation. A core-and-cladding-integrated fiber Bragg grating (FBG) temperature-interrogation system, based on a modulated grating Y-branch (MG-Y) tunable laser and home-built FBG, is proposed in this study. The sensing system comprises an MG-Y tunable laser interrogation system, a 3-dB optical fiber coupler, a core-and-cladding-integrated FBG, a heating platform, and a personal computer. The core-and-cladding-integrated FBG with two reflection peaks is sampled by the designed MG-Y laser. The FBG has a period of 534 nm and a grating length of 2000 µm. It is fabricated in a single-mode fiber by femtosecond-laser writing through the fiber coating. The interrogator is suitable for temperature measurement via the core-and-cladding-integrated FBG. In tests of the temperature-interrogation system, a temperature change from 30 to 100 °C generates spectral shifts toward longer wavelengths for both the core and cladding reflection peaks. For the core and cladding, temperature sensing sensitivities of 111 and 113 pm/°C with linearities of 0.993 and 0.99, respectively, during heating and 117 and 120 pm/°C with linearity coefficients of 0.994 and 0.99, respectively, during cooling are achieved.

Metallic packaging of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors is developed using the ultrasonic welding method. Both polyimide-coated fiber and bare fiber could be bonded well to aluminum alloy substrate using Sn-Bi alloy. Two kinds of metal-packaged FBG sensors, coated FBG and bare FBG, are characterized for studying the thermal sensitivity, strain response, short-term creep, and temporal temperature response. Both FBG sensors showed increasing sensitivity with temperature from −40°C to 80°C. The metal-packaged coated FBG sensor displayed relative strengths in strain stability, repeatability, creep, spectra shape, and temperature response when compared with the bare one. Moreover, the boundaries between optical fiber and metal alloy are intact, and cross-sectional scanning electron microscope micrographs clearly illustrated that metal alloy coated well with the coated and bare fiber.

The smart structures and skins have wide application prospects in future morphing aircrafts and spacecrafts and have attracted much attention in recent years. This paper proposes a stretchable sensing skin with S-shape multicore optical fiber implantation. Different from previous approaches, the multicore fiber with FBG sensor array is embedded into a super elastic substrate in S-shape to form a stretchable sensing skin. This S-shape configuration makes the optical fiber stretchable enough to deform with the skin, and using the multi-core configuration, various types of fiber sensors can be inscribed on different fiber cores to measure the skin shapes and external loads. The sensing characteristics of the skin and the shape sensing of a morphing wing prototype is demonstrated, and the nonlinear characteristics and relaxation of the sensing responses are analyzed. The 3D shapes of a morphing wing prototype are measured at four airfoil profiles using the stretchable sensing skin, the results are verified by visual measurements. The proposed stretchable sensing skin should have broad application prospects in future morphing flight vehicles.

An in-line optical fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometric (MZI) sensor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for magnetic field measurement. The fabrication mechanism of the optical fiber microstructures by CO2 laser is described in detail. The sensor with symmetrical structure is fabricated by splicing a 7-mm length of seven-core fiber and two fiber peanuts, which is encapsulated with magnetic fluid in the capillary. The transmission spectrum of the MZI is modulated by the refractive index of the magnetic fluid, which is affected by the magnetic field. The experimental results indicate that the mode interference is sensitive to the magnetic field and different dips of the interference spectrum have different sensitivities. Hence, simultaneous measurement of the temperature and magnetic field can be achieved by simultaneously monitoring two different dips. The sensitivities of the magnetic field and temperature can reach up to 0.062 nm / Gs and 0.081 nm / ° C, respectively. The proposed Mach–Zehnder interference sensor has a more compact structure, simple manufacturing process, and high reliability, which would find potential applications in weak magnetic sensing fields.