Static Characterization of Curvature Sensors Based on Plastic Optical Fibers

Sensors able to measure curvature changes are emerging as an effective alternative to the more common strain gauges for structural health monitoring applications. Particularly interesting is the all-optical fiber implementation for its unique properties and the possibility of being embedded. This paper, after a brief description of curvature sensors using plastic optical fibers, focuses on their characterization in applications where high sensitivity is required, and compares their performance with commercial strain sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings. The choice of plastic optical fibers allows the realization of simple, compact and cheap sensors. A characterization setup to test different sensor typologies is proposed and the main uncertainty contributions are investigated.