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Optical Interferometric Pressure Sensor Based on a Buckled Beam with Low-Temperature Cross-Sensitivity
IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
  • Chen Zhu
  • Yizheng Chen
  • Yiyang Zhuang
  • Guozhong Fang
  • Xuefeng Liu
  • Jie Huang, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Abstract

This paper reports a novel optical interferometric sensor based on a buckled beam for pressure measurements with low-temperature dependence. The working principle of the pressure sensor involves a pressure transfer mechanism and a displacement transfer mechanism. The principal sensor structure consists of an optical fiber, a gold-coated steel beam, and a steel sheet with a thickness of 0.8 mm. The optical fiber endface and the center part of the buckled beam form a Fabry-Perot interferometer. When the sensor is subjected to an external pressure, the steel sheet will deflect, resulting in an axial displacement of the prebuckled beam. The axial displacement will be further transferred and amplified to a vertical deflection at the center of the buckled beam, leading to a relatively large change in the Fabry-Perot cavity length. Based on this buckled beam structure, the pressure measurement sensitivity of the novel sensor is improved. Moreover, the sensitivity could be flexibly adjusted through the modification of the initial setting of the buckled beam. In our prototype sensor, a pressure sensitivity of 169 nm/kPa was realized with a low-temperature dependence of 0.022 kPa/°C. The stability of the sensor was also investigated. This cost-effective and easy-to-manufacture sensor is believed to be an excellent candidate for monitoring the environmental pressure in various fields.

Department(s)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Center/Lab(s)
Intelligent Systems Center
Sponsor(s)
Research Board at Missouri University of Science and Technology
Missouri University of Science and Technology.Materials Research Center
Comments
This work was supported in part by University of Missouri Research Board and in part by the Materials Research Center at Missouri S&T.
Keywords and Phrases
  • Cavity resonators,
  • Cost effectiveness,
  • Fabry-Perot interferometers,
  • Fiber optic sensors,
  • Gold coatings,
  • Interferometry,
  • Optical fibers,
  • Optical sensors,
  • Pressure measurement,
  • Pressure sensors,
  • Steel,
  • Steel fibers,
  • Steel sheet,
  • Temperature distribution, Buckled beams,
  • Cross sensitivity,
  • Optical interferometry,
  • Optical-fiber interferometry,
  • Sensitivity,
  • Structural beams, Temperature,
  • Low-Temperature-Pressure cross-sensitivity,
  • Optical fiber interferometry
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2018 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), All rights reserved.
Publication Date
4-1-2018
Publication Date
01 Apr 2018
Citation Information
Chen Zhu, Yizheng Chen, Yiyang Zhuang, Guozhong Fang, et al.. "Optical Interferometric Pressure Sensor Based on a Buckled Beam with Low-Temperature Cross-Sensitivity" IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement Vol. 67 Iss. 4 (2018) p. 950 - 955 ISSN: 0018-9456
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jie-huang/66/