FBGS develops 80µm fibre to embed sensors

Belgium-based FBGS, developer and manufacturer of Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG), has developed new ultrathin (80 micron) fibre to embed sensors in material to measure intrinsic strain of components.


“The ability to embed sensors within a material gives engineers scope to measure intrinsic strain of components during their production, or use under varying load conditions,” he adds.

According to him, the new fibre offers several additional features over the standard 125 micro diameter DTG fibre. “The Ultrathin sensing fibre is less invasive when embedded within laminate composite textiles, it requires less force to strain it, which makes it more suited for acoustic sensors and hydrophones and since it is more elastic in respect to its bending properties, it can be used in applications where small bend radii are required,” he informs.

He further informs, “The new 80µm diameter fiber retains all the attributes of the larger 125 µm DTG product, including extremely high mechanical strength, spliceless FBG chains, low bending loss, wide temperature range up to +200°C, ormocer coating, and uniform coating even at FBG position.”

Talking about the development, he says, “The development of smart structures, materials and textiles is already an intensive area of research for us and our partners.”

“Using the fibre to create a 'central nervous system' out of the structure that the material is formed into, makes it possible to measure intrinsically over varying load conditions as opposed to the surface measurements achieved using traditional electrical strain gauge technology,” he informs.

Commenting about the demand for the new fibre, he says, “Whilst these applications for our fiber are already in use amongst our high-technology customers, some of the less common requests we have received include embedding of our draw tower fiber into composite materials for strain measurement for e.g. turbine blades embedded into medical patches to monitor healing processes, wearable sensors for use in clinical applications, etc.”

Mr. Johnson opines, “Due to the ease with which the fibre can now be woven into textiles, we believe it is only a matter of time before fibre optic sensing is used in fashion and designers start to explore how the physiology and movement of the wearer can be monitored by the clothes we wear.”

FBGS is an engineering organization involved in the development of fibre optics sensing equipment for the measurement of strain and temperature.

Technicaltextile News Desk - India