A multi-purpose optical fibre sensor design for fibre reinforced composite materials

This paper reports on the evaluation of a multi-functional extrinsic Fabry - Perot optical fibre-based sensor design. The sensor was constructed using multimode and single mode optical fibres and a precision bore capillary tube. Fusion joints were used to secure the optical fibres into the capillary tube. The separation between the cleaved end-faces of the optical fibres defined the cavity length for the Fabry - Perot sensor and the distance between the fusion joints defined the gauge length for this strain and temperature sensor. The sensor design was modified to: (i) monitor the progress of cure in an epoxy/amine resin system; (ii) detect the ingress of moisture in a cured epoxy/amine resin system; (iii) monitor the vibration characteristics of a pre- and post-impact damaged carbon fibre reinforced epoxy panel; and (iv) discriminate between strain and temperature measurements. The feasibility of using this type of sensor for cure monitoring, strain, temperature, residual stress measurements and damage detection in advanced fibre reinforced composites is demonstrated.