A digital level transducer based on optical fiber

The paper proposes a digital level transducer based on an optical fiber from which the cladding was removed in n zones at a fixed distance one from each other. A theoretical analysis of the propagation in such a modified fiber was carried out, highlighting the good potentiality of the proposed sensor. A 1 m full scale, 25 mm resolution prototype was then designed, using the results of a numerical simulation, and realized, optimizing both the sensitive element and the conditioning hardware. The static and dynamic characterization tests carried out show high repeatability, good accuracy, and acceptable dynamic performance