Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor to Characterize Curing Process-dependent Mechanical Properties of Polymeric Materials

An integrated technique using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor is proposed to measure critical mechanical properties of polymeric materials. In the method, a polymer of interest is first cured around a glass FBG and the Bragg wavelength (BW) shift is measured and documented while polymerization progresses at the curing temperature. After complete polymerization, the BW shift is monitored continuously as the temperature of the cured polymer changes. The critical properties are then found from the relationship between the Bragg wavelength shift and the deformation of the polymer caused by the changes in the material properties through an over-deterministic inverse approach.