Design of an Optical-Fiber Accelerometer based on Polarization Variation due to Crushing of the Fiber

This paper presents the design of a novel kind of accelerometer. The sensor is based on the modification of the polarization state of the light inside the fiber by the means of a mechanical transducer. The transducer presented uses crushing to deform the fiber. Measurements were done with an acceleration varying from 1 to 40 m/s² and a frequency range varying from 100 to 1000 Hz. The measured output is the ratio between the variable part and the constant part of the optical power at the end of the fiber. A sensitivity of the order of 6E-4/ms² was found. Numerical simulations were also performed with the Abaqus software. The obtained sensitivity is quite greater than the measured one which can be explained by the hypothesizes we made for the simulations.