Development of a long-gauge distributed vibration sensor

Recently, we found that by terminating a long length of fiber of up to 2 kilometers with an in-fiber cavity structure, the entire structure can detect vibrations over a frequency range from 5 Hz to 100 Hz. We want to determine whether the structure (including packaging) can be optimized to detect vibrations at even higher frequencies. The structure can be used as a distributed vibration sensor mounted on large motors and other rotating machines to capture the entire frequency spectrum of the associated vibration signals, and therefore, replace the many accelerometers, which add to the maintenance cost. Similarly, it will help detect in-slot vibrations inside an air-cooled generator which causes intermittent contact leading to sparking under high voltages. However, that will require the sensor to detect frequencies associated with vibration sparking, ranging from 6 kHz to 15 kHz. Then, at even higher frequencies, the structure can be useful to detect acoustic vibrations (30 kHz to 150 kHz) associated with partial discharge (PD) in generators and transformers. Detecting lower frequencies in the range 2 Hz to 200 Hz makes the sensor suitable for seismic studies and falls well into the vibrations associated with rotating machines. Another application of interest is corrosion detection in large re-enforced concrete structures by inserting the sensor along a long hole drilled around structures showing signs of corrosion. The frequency response for the proposed long-gauge vibration sensor depends on packaging.