Reflective sensor for detection of material degradation

摘要

A sensor for detecting material degradation may include an optical fiber and a housing through which the optical fiber extends. An end cap may be affixed to an end of the housing. Light provided through the optical fiber may be reflected off of the end cap back through the optical fiber. The end cap may be made of a material of interest, and may be situated in an environment wherein the material of interest is present. A light source may provide input light through the optical fiber. A portion of the input light may be reflected off of the end cap. A light receptor may receive the reflected light via the optical fiber. A processing unit may be adapted to compare a measured intensity of the reflected light to a threshold, and to initiate an alarm condition if the measured intensity is below the threshold.

主权项

1. A sensor system for detecting degradation of a material of interest embedded in a structure, the sensor system comprising:
an optical fiber; a housing through which the optical fiber extends; an optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) that injects a series of optical pulses into the optical fiber; and an end cap disposed at an end of the optical fiber such that the pulses injected into the optical fiber are reflected off of the end cap back through the optical fiber, wherein the end cap is made of the material of interest and has a thickness corresponding to a threshold level of degradation of the material of interest in the structure, and wherein the OTDR extracts from the optical fiber pulses that are reflected off of the end cap, and the OTDR determines, based on a distance from which the pulses were reflected, whether the material of interest has degraded below the threshold.