Sensors and Actuators 79 2000. 3645 www.elsevier.

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A fibre-optic grating sensor for the study of flow-induced vibrations

W. Jin
a

a, )

, Y. Zhou b, P.K.C. Chan a , H.G. Xu

Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic Uniersity, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China b Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic Uniersity, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China Received 24 March 1999; accepted 4 June 1999

Abstract A fibre-optic Bragg grating sensor for flow-induced vibration measurement is described. The sensor is based on monitoring shift in the Bragg wavelength of a fibre Bragg grating. The fibre Bragg grating, when bonded onto a structure, can measure local axial strain variation of the structure. The sensor was used to measure the flow-induced vibrations on a circular cylinder in a cross-flow. The measured strain is consistent with the transverse structural bending displacement Y obtained from a laser vibrometer in terms of the natural frequency of the fluidstructure system and the vortex shedding frequency. The experimental data further indicated that and Y are linearly correlated when the bending displacement is small. It is expected that the fibre Bragg grating sensor, because of its physical uniqueness, has an important role to play in the study of fluidstructure interactions. q 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Optical sensors; Fibre-optic sensors; Bragg grating sensors; Flow-induced vibrations

1. Introduction Since Hill et al. w1x first discovered photosensitivity in optical fibre, Fibre Bragg Grating FBG. has been a subject of intense research and development at many institutions around the world. Although the development of FBGs has been led primarily by their applications in telecommunications, FBG sensors have attracted considerable interest from various fields because they are simple and intrinsic sensing elements which can be photo-inscribed into a silica fibre and have all the advantages normally attributed to fibre-optic sensors w2x. One application of the FBGs is for smart structures where FBG sensor arrays can be embedded into materials to allow the measurement of parameters such as load, strain, and temperature, from which the health of the structure can be assessed on a real time basis. Numerous papers have been published in the area of FBG sensors and the state-of-the-art may be found in a recent review by Kersey et al. w3x. In this paper, we report the application of the FBG sensor for the measurement of flow-induced structural vibrations. Flow-induced vibrations on a structure in a cross-flow are complex and complicated, involving coupling between the structural dynamics and the turbulent flow field. Since
Corresponding author. Tel.: q852-2766-6180; fax: q852-2330-1544; E-mail: eejwei@polyu.edu.hk
)

the vibrations have a significant impact on the fatigue life of structures and may even have disastrous consequences, interest in documenting and predicting the vibrations under different flow conditions is rapidly growing. To understand fluidstructure interactions, instrumentation for accurate vibration measurement is essential. Common techniques used to measure flow-induced forces are the piezoelectric load cell technique w4,5x and the dynamic pressure transducer method w6,7x, which traditionally employed strain gauges to measure the acceleration. Alternatives to the dynamic pressure transducer are the displacement transducer w8x and the accelerometer w9x. The displacement transducer of the capacitive type could be used to measure the oscillation of cantilevered structures in a cross-flow w8x. However, the load cells, the dynamic pressure transducers, the displacement transducers and the accelerometers all have finite masses. Therefore, all these techniques suffer from one common drawback, that is, the introduction of lumped mass into the structure, which alters the structural integrity and the dynamic response of the structure. As such, the measured fluidstructure interactions will be different from the true free vibration problem. A number of techniques are available for the measurement of strain and displacements of a vibrating structure. These include the use of strain gauges w10,11x, which could either measure strain or the amplitude of vibrations, and the laser vibrometer w12,13x, which could measure the

0924-4247r00r$ - see front matter q 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 2 4 - 4 2 4 7 9 9 . 0 0 2 4 5 - 9

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37

bending and torsional displacements. The use of strain gauges again suffers the same drawback as the load cell method in that the presence of the strain gauges alters the structural properties of the structure and thus its dynamic characteristics. Therefore, its use with laser Doppler anemometer LDA. to resolve the true fluidstructure interaction effects is not very suitable. On the other hand, the laser vibrometer, just like the LDA, is a non-intrusive technique. Its use with LDA or hot-wire could represent a unique tool for the study of fluidstructure interactions. This new tool has been employed by Ching et al. w13x to study the dynamic behavior of an elastic cylinder in a cross-flow and the fluidstructure interactions at synchronization, where the structural natural frequency is approximately equal to its vortex shedding frequency. However, it is difficult to use the laser vibrometer to characterize a structure within an array because adjacent structures could block or contaminate the laser beamrsignal. FBG sensors are unique in a number of aspects, which make them ideal for flow-induced vibration measurement. Firstly, they are small in size the diameter can be as small as 80 m m. and light in weight. Their attachment onto a structure should cause a negligible effect on the vibrational characteristics of structures. Secondly, as light is guided by optical fibres which are flexible can be bent., the FBG sensors may be used to measure fluctuating strain at any point on a structure even when it is positioned within an array, overcoming the drawback of the laser vibrometer. Using wavelength division multiplexing andror other multiplexing techniques, the FBG sensors have potential to be

used for simultaneous multi-point measurement on a single structure, or simultaneous measurement of many structures. These measurements may be of significance in determining the instantaneous operational mode shape of a structure in a cross-flow and in studying flowstructure interactions. The principle of the FBG sensor for the measurement of fluctuating strain will be presented in Section 2; the performance of the sensor will be presented in Section 3; experimental details and results will be reported in Section 4; a brief discussion is given in Section 5.

2. Sensing principle 2.1. Concept of FBG strain sensing Fig. 1 shows the generic concept of strain sensing using an FBG. The FBG is photo-inscribed into an optical fibre using a high power UV laser beam and is associated with a small periodic refractive index variation in the fibre core. When the light of a broadband spectrum is guided through the optical fibre to the FBG, a narrow band component as indicated by the spike in the reflection spectrum is reflected back at the Bragg resonance wavelength lB , given by:

lB s 2 n L ,

1.

where L is the grating pitch and n is the fibre refractive index. The Bragg wavelength is strain-dependent through

Fig. 1. Generic concept of Bragg grating strain sensing.

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W. Jin et al. r Sensors and Actuators 79 (2000) 3645

physical elongation of the sensor and through the change in the fibre refractive index due to photoelastic effects w14x. An applied strain . would cause a shift D l B in lB . For a standard single mode silica fibre, the relationship between and D lB is given by w3x: D lB s 0.78 lB 0 ,

where R G is the peak reflectivity of the grating and BG is the full-width at half-maximum FWHM. grating bandwidth. The transmission spectrum of the FabryPerot filter may also be modelled to have a Gaussian shape given by: T F l . s T F 0 exp y 4ln 2
2 BF 2 l y lF . ,

2.

5.

where lB0 is the Bragg wavelength of the grating under strain-free condition. Based on Eq. 2., for a nominal Bragg wavelength of lB0 s 1556 nm as used in the present study, a strain of 1 m will result in a shift of D lB s 1.2 pm. The wavelength shift D lB can be detected by a number of techniques w2,3x. A tunable FabryPerot optical filter is used in the present study to convert the wavelength shift to a light intensity variation. The intensity signal is converted, through a photodetector, to a voltage signal that is amplified, sampled and processed to recover the applied strain signal. A detailed description of the FBG sensor system is given below. 2.2. Detection of waelength shift Dl B Assume that the reflection coefficient of the FBG and the transmission coefficient of the tunable filter as function of wavelength are R G l y lB . and TF l y lF ., respectively, where lF is the centre wavelength of the tunable optical filter. The light intensity at the output of the optical filter may be written as w15x:
`

where BF is the FWHM bandwidth of the filter and TF0 is the transmission coefficient of the filter.Substituting Eqs. 4. and 5. into Eq. 3. and evaluating the integration, we obtain the light intensity: I s Ip exp yd l2 nor ,

6.
B F BG

In Eq. 6., Ip is a peak output light intensity given by: Ip s

'p PlTF R G '4ln 2

(B

2 2 G q BF

7.

and d lnor is a normalised wavelength mismatch defined as: d lnor s

2'ln 2

2 2 BG q BF

dl,

8.

where d l s l B y lF s lB0 y lF q D lB is the wavelength mismatch. For a particular sensor system, Pl, BG , B F , T F and R G are fixed. Eqs. 6. and 8. indicate that the intensity I will vary only with d l and can therefore be used as a measure of D l B . The dependence of the normalised light intensity Inor s IrIp on d l nor is illustrated in Fig. 2.

Is

Hy` P l. R
`

l y lB . TF l y lF . d l 3.

f Pl

Hy` R

l . TF l y lB y lF . d l ,

where P l. is the power spectrum of the broadband light source, l B s lB0 q D lB is the Bragg wavelength of the FBG when a strain is applied. The power spectrum of the broadband source is normally by far broader than the tuning range of the grating and hence, it may be assumed to have a constant spectrum power Pl over this limited range. The output light intensity is a function of l B y l F , and can therefore be used to measure the wavelength variation D lB . The reflection spectrum of the FBG depends on the exact profile of the refractive index variation within the fibre core. For a uniform sinusoidal index variation, the reflection spectrum has been derived analytically and was found to be a rather complicated function of grating parameters. For many applications, the FBGs are designed to have a reflection spectrum of approximately Gaussian shape w15x, i.e., R G l . s R G exp y 4ln 2
2 BG 2 l y lB . ,

4.

Fig. 2. Dependence of normalised output I r Ip . on normalised wavelength mismatch d lnor .

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39

2.3. Measurement of dynamic strain Assume an applied longitudinal strain:

s 0 q m f t . ,

9.

where 0 is the DC component of the strain, m and f t . are, respectively, the amplitude and the profile of the fluctuating strain modulation. The function f t . has an average value of zero and satisfies < f t . < F 1. For a sinusoidal strain modulation, f t . s sin v t q f ., where v is the angular oscillation frequency. D l B may be written as: D lB s D lB 0 q lm f t . .

10 .

where D lB0 is the DC component and lm is the amplitude of the fluctuating wavelength shift. They are related, through Eq. 2., to 0 and m , respectively. The wavelength mismatch d l can be expressed as: d l s d ldc q d lac ,

11 .

Fig. 3. Dependence of the normalised scale factor K nor on the normalised wavelength mismatch d lnor .

where d ldc s lB0 q D lB0 y lF represents a DC component which determines the operation point, and d lac s lm f t . is an AC component due to the fluctuation of strain. When passing through the optical filter, the wavelength modulation will be converted to intensity modulation Fig. 2.. For a small l m , i.e., l m < BG . 2 q BF . 2 .1r 2 , the intensity modulation may be approximated by: Iac s K lm f t . ,

2.4. Optimisation of the scale factor From Eqs. 15. and 8., it can be seen that K nor and therefore, K depends on d ldc or the operation point. To optimise the sensor performance, we must adjust the operation point so that K or K nor is maximised. The working point corresponding to K max may be obtained from Eq. 15. by setting d Krd d lnor . s 0. This results in an optimal value of d l, i.e., d lopt s lB 0 q D l B 0 y l F s . 16 . 8ln 2 The optimal value of K can be derived using Eqs. 8., 15. and 16. and can written as: K max s

12 .

where K is the wavelength-to-intensity conversion factor that depends on the operation point. The system output after photodetection is a voltage with an AC component, viz: Vac s K e r o Iac s K e r o K lm f t . ,

(B

2 2 G q BF

13 .

'2ln 2
e

2 Ip

where K er o is the light-intensity to electric-voltage conversion coefficient of the photodetector.Using Eq. 2., we eventually obtain: Vac s 0.78 K e r o K lB 0 m f t . s K V r m f t . ,

(B

2 2 G q BF

17 .

14 .

where K V r s 0.78 K er o K l B0 is a scale factor that relates the output voltage variation to the fluctuating strain. For a particular sensing system, K er o and l B0 are constants, while K and K V r depend on the operation point. In fact, K equals to the first derivative of I d l. that can be derived from Eqs. 6. and 8., viz: Ks dI d d lnor . 4'ln 2 sy d d l nor . d d l. Ip exp yd l2 nor . d l nor
d l s d l dc .

In practice, the optimal working condition or d l opt can be achieved through the adjustment of lF , the corresponding sensor output is Vac s K V r . opt m f t . s 0.78 lB0 K er o K max m f t .. 3. Sensor performance 3.1. Measurement range of the sensor From Fig. 2, it can be seen that the sensor response Iac is a non-linear function of d lac . For a small wavelength modulation, the relationship between response Iac and d lac may be approximated by a linear relation, i.e., Eq. 12.. For a large wavelength modulation, however, the use of Eq. 12. would cause errors, because different parts of the waveform see different values of K . Near the optimal working point, i.e., point A in Fig. 2, K is equal to K max and the wavelength modulation is converted to intensity

(B

2 2 G q BF

15 .

The normalised scale factor K nor s BG . 2 q B F . 2 .1r 2 Kr4ln 2.1r 2 Ip . as a function of d l nor is shown in Fig. 3.

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W. Jin et al. r Sensors and Actuators 79 (2000) 3645

modulation very effectively. For the parts which are far away from the optimal point, e.g., point B, K may be significantly smaller than K max and the wavelength-to-intensity conversion is less efficient. This will introduce a distortion in the output waveform. It is therefore important to specify the measurement range over which the sensor can be used for a specified error allowance of the scale factor. Assuming working around the optimal operating point, the maximum measurement range in terms of < d lnor < may be estimated from Fig. 2 or Eq. 6.. by measuring the horizontal distance between the operating point and the peak point of the response curve, and is found to be 1r62. The measurement range in terms of d l can then be derived using Eq. 8. and expressed as < d l < F w BG . 2 q BF . 2 .r2ln 2.x1r 2 s 0.85 BG . 2 q BF . 2 .1r 2 . We are interested here in the measurement range in terms of the amplitude lm of wavelength modulation that is related to the amplitude of the applied fluctuating strain. The maximum measurement range in terms of lm is approximately half of < d l <, i.e., < lm < f < d l <r2 F 0.425 BG . 2 q B F . 2 .1r 2 . Beyond this value, the sensor output will be seriously distorted and will not increase as the amplitude of the wavelength modulation increases. For practical applications, however, the measurement range should be smaller than this value and must depend on the allowance of the scale factor error. The measurement range may then be defined as a magnitude of lm denoted as < lm < max ., beyond this magnitude, some parts of the waveform will see a K-value smaller than a % of K max , i.e., < K < F a % K max .

. Fig. 4. a. Graphical method for solving '2 e d lnor expy d l2 nor s a % Eq. 19..; b. Relationship between D lnor s < d lnor,1 y d lnor,2 < and a %.

18 .
gation are BG s BF s 0.2 nm. This results in D l s 0.076 nm, or lm F 38 pm, corresponding to a strain range of m F 37 m. 3.2. Sensitiity of the sensor Another important parameter is the sensitivity of the sensor in terms of the minimum detectable wavelength or fluctuating strain. Assuming working at the optimal operation point, if the noise level in voltage. is Vn , the wavelength detection accuracy in terms of noise equivalent wavelength < lm < n corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio of 1. may be determined from Eq. 13. < lm < n s Vn K e r o K max .

The larger the value of a %, the closer the value of K is to K max and the better the system performance. Substituting Eqs. 15. and 17. into Eq. 18. yields:

'2 e d lnor exp yd l2 nor . s a %.

19 .

Eq. 19. can be solved using a graphical method as shown in Fig. 4a. For a % - 1, two values of d lnor , i.e., d lnor,1 and d lnor,2 , satisfy Eq. 19.. The normalised wavelength range D lnor s < d lnor,1 y d lnor,2 <. as illustrated in Fig. 4a as a function of a % is shown in Fig. 4b. Take a % s 90% as an example, we have D l nor s 0.45. The corresponding wavelength range D l s < d l1 y d l2 < can be calculated from Eq. 8., i.e.,
2 2 D l s 0.27 BG q BF .

20 .

21 .

Obviously, D l depends on the bandwidth of the filter and the grating, and can therefore be adjusted by choosing appropriate BG and BF . The measurement range in terms of lm may be estimated as < lm < max f D lr2 s 0.135 BG . 2 q BF . 2 .1r 2 . The measurement range in terms of the fluctuating strain denoted as < m < max . can be determined from < lm < max using Eq. 2.. The bandwidths of the FBG and the FabryPerot filter used in our present investi-

As K max is related to the bandwidths of the Bragg grating and the optical filter, < lm < n is therefore also dependent on the filter and the grating characteristics. The noise may be originated from various sources such as quantization error during ArD conversion, thermal noise in the receiver, etc. Like all types of optical sensors, the fundamental noise limit of the Bragg sensor is, how-

W. Jin et al. r Sensors and Actuators 79 (2000) 3645

41

ever, the photon shot noise. The shot noise in terms of light intensity Ns is given by w15x: Ns s

(
Ip

2 qI0 BN

22 .

where q is the electronic charge, j is detector responsivity in AmpererWatt, I0 is the mean optical power at the detector, and BN is the bandwidth of the detection circuit. I0 depends on the operation point. At optimal operation point, I0 may be calculated from Eq. 6. and expressed as: I0 s

'e

23 .

The minimum detectable wavelength variation can be determined using Eqs. 7., 21. 23., viz. < d lm < nr BN s

Ns K max

2 2 q BG q BF .

3r 2

2 p ln 2re PlTF R G j BG B F

'

24 .
In the derivation of Eq. 24., we have used Vn s K er o Ns . The minimum detectable strain can be calculated from the value of < lm < n using Eq. 2.. The fibre-optic Bragg sensor system presently used consists of an FBG, a light-emitting diode LED. source, a 50r50 fibre coupler, a FabryPerot tunable filter, and a photodetector Fig. 1.. The FBG was written directly onto a standard telecommunication fibre Corning SMF-28, 125 m m diameter. after hydrogen loading, using a standard phase-mask UV written technique w2x. The FBG is about 1 cm long and has a centre wavelength of l B s 1556 nm. The spectrum of the FBG is approximately Gaussian with spectral width BG s 0.2 nm and peak reflectivity R G s 80%. The LED has a spectrum density of Pl s 6 mWrnm at 1556 nm. The Optical FabryPerot FP. filter has also an approximately Gaussian spectral profile with a bandwidth B F s 0.2 nm and a transmission coefficient of TF s 50%. The photodetector used was a New Focus Model 2001 Photoreceiver with a responsivity of j s 1 ArW. The sensitivity of the sensor limited by the shot noise can be calculated by substituting the above-mentioned system parameters into Eq. 24. and was found to be 3 = 10y7 nmr6Hz or 0.27 n r6Hz. For a detection bandwidth of 1.6 kHz the bandwidth used in our experiment., the shot noise limited sensitivity of the sensor is found to be 0.01 m.

4. Experiment and results 4.1. Experiment details Fig. 5 shows the experimental set-up. The aim of the experiment was to test the viability to apply the FBG sensor for the measurement of flow-induced vibrations on

a cylinder in a cross-flow. Experiments were conducted in a suction-type wind tunnel with a 0.5 m long working section 0.35 m = 0.35 m.. An acrylic circular cylinder of 6 mm in diameter was vertically mounted in the mid-plane of the working section, 0.2 m from the exit plane of the contraction. The mounting was designed to provide a fixed support at both ends so that the cylinder deflections at the supporting points were essentially zero. Experiments were conducted for a range of the free stream velocity U` ; the Reynolds number Re ' U` drn , where n is the fluid kinematic viscosity. varies from 800 to 7200. The cylinder in a uniform stream will vibrate due to excitation from the vortex shedding. Flow-induced vibration is associated with a varying displacement and hence, a dynamic strain of the cylinder. When an optical fibre built with a FBG sensor is bonded along the cylinder span, the fibre and hence, the FBG sensor, follows the deformation of the surface and therefore provides a measure of the local strain at a point where the FBG is located. The strain is a resultant effect of torsional and bending displacement. For a cylinder subject to a cross-flow, the associated torsion is, in general, negligible. The structural vibrations are primarily due to the bending moment. This implies that drag and lift or the streamwise and lateral displacements are responsible for strain. To measure the lateral displacement, the optical fibre built with a FBG sensor was bonded along the cylinder span at 908 from the leading stagnation line. The FBG was located at the mid-span of the cylinder. Since the streamwise displacement does not result in strain at the point where the FBG is located, the strain measured by the FBG sensor was entirely due to the lateral displacement. To compare the measured strain and the lateral displacement, a commercial laser vibrometer Polytec Series 3000 Dual Laser Beam Vibrometer. was used to measure the lateral fluctuating displacement of the cylinder so that the relationship between the two quantities can be quantified. The laser vibrometer was arranged in such a way that one laser beam measured the displacement at the same point where the FBG was located, the other beam monitored the tunnel vibration. The differential signal Y from the two beams grossly reduced the contamination of tunnel vibration to the displacement measurement. The streamwise fluctuating velocity u was measured by a single hot-wire Tungsten. located at xrd s 2 and yrd s 1.5 Fig. 5.. The hot-wire was operated at an overheat ratio of 1.8 with a constant temperature anemometer DISA Type 55M10.. The signals , Y and u were simultaneously offset, amplified and then digitised using a 12-bit ArD card and a personal computer at a sampling frequency of 3.5 kHz per channel. The duration of each record was about 15 s. Before measurement, the FBG sensor was calibrated to obtain the value of the scale factor K V r that relates the output voltage to the applied strain see Eq. 14... This was done by tuning the FabryPerot filter wavelength lF through varying the applied control voltage around the

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W. Jin et al. r Sensors and Actuators 79 (2000) 3645

Fig. 5. Experimental set-up.

optimal working point and, meanwhile, measuring the voltage variation in the system output. The ratio of the output voltage variation over the change in lF gives K er o K . The value of K V r was then derived from the value of K er o K using K V r s 0.78 lB0 K er o K Eq. 14... The calibration accuracy in determining the wavelength tuning was limited by the accuracy in tuning the control voltage applied to the filter, and is estimated to be around 10 pm. This will cause an error in the calculation of the scale factor K V r . Calibration was repeated for five times; an average of the results from the five calibrations was taken as the estimated value of the system scale factor K V r . The discrepancy between the values of K V r obtained from the five calibrations was found to be less than 16%. 4.2. Experimental results Fig. 6 displays the time histories of upper trace., Y middle trace. and the streamwise velocity u lower trace. for Re s 6100. All signals were measured simultaneously. The signal was calculated by dividing the measured voltage variation from the FBG sensor by the scale factor K V r , as determined from the calibration experiments. The

uncertainty in is largely attributed to that in K V r and is estimated to be less than 16%. The signals of and Y exhibit some similarities. Both show quasi-periodical fluctuations. The fluctuations have the same frequency as the

Fig. 6. Time traces of a. the fluctuating strain measured from the FBG sensor, b. the bending displacement Y from laser vibrometer, c. the streamwise velocity u from hot-wire Re s 6100..

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43

Fig. 7. Spectra of measured signals: a. strain ; b. displacement Y ; c. streamwise velocity u.

quasi-periodical u signal, a consequence of the excitation due to vortex shedding. Both signals of and Y show the occurrence of beating at about the same time. The beating appears when the forcing frequency is close to the natural X . of the system w16x or its harmonics. The frequency f n spectra of and Y shown later in this section. indicates that the vortex shedding frequency fs at Re s 6100 is 512 Hz, which is approximately equal to the fifth harmonic of X fn . Fig. 7 presents typical spectra at Re s 6100. In spite of the use of the differential signal, E Y exhibits a peak at f s 24 Hz or f U s fdrU` s 0.0096, which has been experimentally verified to be the same as the wind tunnel vibration frequency. From this point on, all frequencies are made dimensionless by U` and d and are denoted by an asterisk. The peak associated with the transverse vibration is not seen in the spectrum of , E . In principle, the tunnel vibration should not affect the FBG sensor measurement. However, being fixed on the tunnel wall, the cylinder would vibrate with the tunnel and an inertial force associated with the vibration could cause a bending displacement, thus leading to a strain of the cylinder. It appears that the signal is less sensitive to this noise than the Y signal. This is an advantage of the FBG sensor technique over that of the laser vibrometer. In general, E is quite similar to E Y in terms of major characteristics; both exhibit two prominent peaks at identical frequencies. One occurs at fs s 512 Hz, or fsU s 0.205,

identical to the vortex shedding frequency as indicated by X XU Eu . Another prominent peak occurs at f n s 99 or f n s 0.041. The frequency is consistent with the calculated XU natural frequency f n s 0.039 of the combined fluidstructure system. Relative to the peak at fsU , the peak in EY XU corresponding to f n is larger than that in E , indicating X that the Y signal is more sensitive to excitation at the f n frequency, but less sensitive to the excitation of the vortex X shedding. Perhaps, the structural vibration at f n is dominated by the first mode that has a maximum vibration

Fig. 8. Comparison between the root-mean-square values rms '. of strain and Yrms v . of displacement Y .

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W. Jin et al. r Sensors and Actuators 79 (2000) 3645

Fig. 9. Empirical correlation between Yrms and rms .

amplitude at mid-span. On the other hand, the vibration at fs is more likely to be associated with not only the first mode but also the second or higher modes. This is due to the fact that the vortex cells in the wake have a limited span-wise width, typically 2 d to 3 d, particularly at high Re; consequently, the fluctuating lift is not perfectly correlated along the cylinder w7x. Any mode of vibration will incur a strain on the structure and hence, can be measured by the FBG sensor. The displacement measurement, however, tends to be less sensitive to the higher modes of the structural vibration. For example, there is no displacement corresponding to the second mode at mid-span. As a result, X component relative to the fs the amplitude of the f n component is larger in the Y signal than in the signal. Fig. 8 shows the dependence of the root-mean-square values of Y and , i.e., Yrms and rms on the reduced X velocity Ur ' U` rfn d .. Note that the measurements were conducted only up to Ur f 30. Further increase in Ur resulted in a very violent vibration and the signal-to-noise ratio of the laser vibrometer worsened substantially. In view of this, the measurements were not as reliable. The variations of Yrms and rms show a similar trend. Both increase as Ur increases and their local peaks generally occur at the same Ur . Yrms and rms appear linearly correlated for Yrms - 8 m , or Ur - 27 Fig. 9.. This implies that for small displacement, the strain measurement can provide us with the same information on vibrations as the displacement. This is of significance since in most practical applications one is more interested in small displacement vibration. When Yrms ) 8 m , or Ur ) 27, the relationship between the two quantities starts to deviate from the linear relation, probably as a result of the increasing importance of the non-linear vibrations as well as the higher modes of vibrations.

5. Discussion During experiments, it was noted that the operation point varies from time-to-time. This may be due to a drift in the Bragg wavelength of the grating and also in the centre wavelength of the FabryPerot filter with environmental effects such as temperature. As discussed in Section 3, a drift in the operation point away from the optimal point will result in a decrease in the value of K hence, K V r . and therefore cause errors in measurements. It is therefore important to adjust the system parameters so that the system is always working around the optimal operation point. The optimal operation point was coarsely maintained by tuning the control voltage of the FabryPerot filter so that the AC output signal is maximised as seen from an oscilloscope. This was done for each wind speed or Reynolds number before taking data, thus ensuring that the operation is always around the optimal point. The optimal operation point was more accurately maintained by monitoring the DC component of the sensor output and adjusted it to a pre-determined constant value corresponding to the optimal working point. The accuracy of this technique may be estimated as follows: at the optimal operation point, the DC voltage can be determined from Eqs. 6., 8. and 16., viz. V DC s K e r o Ipr'e .

25 .

Around this optimal operation point, the variation of the DC components due to a change in wavelength mismatch may be obtained based on Eq. 6. < DVDC < s dV DC dI dI d l nor D lnor s '2 V DC D l nor .

26 .

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45

In our experiments, VDC is around 140 mV, while the voltage measurement accuracy DVDC is about 20 "10. mV. From Eq. 26., we obtain: < D l nor < s

'2 VDC s 0.1.

DVDC

sity Project Nos. 350r657 and 350r070. and a grant from the Research Grant Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Project No. PolyU 5215r98E..

27 .

This wavelength tuning error corresponds, from Fig. 4b, to a value of a % ) 98%, smaller than 2% reduction in K from the optimal value. This is much smaller than the 16% error in K V r , caused from the calibration process. The noise level of the FBG system was measured when the wind tunnel was switched off. The noise equivalent strain rms value. was found to be 0.036 m. This value is three to four times the theoretical performance estimated from the photon shot noise Section 3.. The discrepancy may be partly caused by the electronic noise after photodetection, and partly by the noise due to the background vibration.

References
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6. Conclusions A fibre-optic Bragg grating sensor system has been described and experimentally tested. Experiments were conducted to measure the flow-induced fluctuating strain due to the lift of a cylinder in a uniform cross-stream. The measured strain variation is consistent in terms of the vortex shedding frequency and the natural frequency of the fluidstructure system, with the bending displacement measurement by a commercial laser vibrometer. The measured strain and displacement appear to be linearly related for small displacement. The fibre grating sensor provides an alternative technique for the measurement of the flowinduced structural vibration. The sensor, because of its very small size and light weight, is relatively non-intrusive. Its attachment to the cylinder should have an insignificant effect on the structural integrity and the flow field near the cylinder. This is of significance for the study of flowstructure interactions, especially when the structure of interest is located within an array of structures. Current research is directed at developing a multi-point sensing system and using it for the study of the flowstructure interaction.

Acknowledgements The work described in this paper was supported by research grants from the Hong Kong Polytechnic Univer-