DIVAS · Distributed vibrational and acoustic sensing technology
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-06-08 → 2018-06-07
- EU contribution
- €164,653
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Distributed vibrational and acoustic sensing technology
Light is largely used to investigate matter using several basic principles, in the same way a driver uses car headlights to obtain information of the road in the darkness. Often light is used for monitoring the condition of the leading communication medium, the optical fiber. For example, an infrared light pulse is used to measure fiber losses through backscattering or to evaluate the temperature and strain stress along the fiber through Brillouin scattering. The project DIVAS (DIstributed Vibrational and Acoustic Sensing technology) developed a system that turns the standard communication optical fiber in a distributed, point resolved, acoustic sensor through the Phase-OTDR (i.e., Phase-sensitive Optical Time Domain Reflectometry) principle. This method uses highly coherent pulses of light that turn each infinitesimal segment of the optical fiber into an interferometric device that provides an incredible sensitivity to vibrations through light backscattering phenomena. We can imagine the optical fiber as a km-long and extremely sensitive distributed microphone with a very wide bandwidth. Each infinitesimal segment contributes to the creation of an interferometric signal, the amplitude of which is proportional to the change of stress or temperature in the corresponding segment of the optical fiber. The change of stress occurs due to the propagation of vibrations through the fiber. Therefore, if the fiber is attached to a long structure, such as a bridge or a wind turbine, we can use it to monitor the vibrations through this structure and interrogate its integrity in order to monitor its condition and prevent damages. The high level of sensitivity of the DIVAS system renders it capable of the detection of very low amplitude acoustic and ultrasonic vibrations, which is useful for the detection of seismic events, high-speed train location and identification, security systems for intruder detection, fluid flow monitoring in pipelines, or the structural health monitoring of bridges, wind turbines, nuclear plants, dams, and electric power transmission lines, among others. The system was developed by a series of innovative engineering solutions, which decreased dramatically its cost to below 10 k€ with a spatial resolution in vibration detection below 6 m and a detection range over 5 km. The combination of the system’s performance and cost will help distribute the, so far uncommon, Phase-OTDR technology widely, in order to take advantage of its capabilities.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The main target of the DIVAS project is the design and development of a low-cost opto-electronic interrogator for distributed vibration detection on standard communication optical fibers, based on Phase-OTDR technology (Phase-sensitive Optical Time Domain Reflectometry). This system is compatible with communication optical fiber devices, and it takes the advances of this innovating field. It will be developed through custom design of a set of electronic and optoelectronic components. Its distributed feature allows the collection of vibrational information along the entire optical fiber length, which is equivalent to thousands and thousands of inline sensors. This feature combined with extreme sensitivity, makes this interrogator an efficient low-price option in vibration detections. For reasons of cost effectiveness, communication optical fiber lines are, normally, adjacent to strategic buildings such us railway, gas, and petrol lines; using one of the available redundant optical fibers, it is possible to retrieve vibrational information for seismic security or for civil structural health monitoring. Using also specifically installed optical fibers, this interrogator may have a wide range of applications from environmental protection purposes (such as terrestrial fauna and marine life protection), to control of intrusions in a wide area (e.g. military context) or, finally, for security purposes such as monitoring nuclear power plants (in order to know if structural damages are approaching before a leakage occurs). The project aims for the development of a compact portable prototype, ready for field tests, which will be tried on at least in one civil engineering application (structural health monitoring), in collaboration with the academic partner. With the help of the industrial partner, the prototype will be adapted for the production line to reach the market with a competitive cost that will ensure its widespread dissemination in all possible fields.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- ETHNIKO IDRYMA EREVNON · AthinaCoordinatorGreece
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union