A bellow pressure fiber optic sensor for static ice pressure measurements

• Published in: Applied geophysics Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 255 - 262
• Main Authors: Cui, Li-Qin, Long, Xin, Qin, Jian-Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Chinese Geophysical Society 01.06.2015; Springer Nature B.V; College of Physics and Optoelectronic, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China%Shanghai Aerospace Electronic Technology Institute, Shanghai 201108, China%College of Physics and Optoelectronic, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China; Key Laboratory Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control System, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
• Subjects: Bellows; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fiber optics; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Hydraulic structures; Hydraulics; Ice; Ice pressure; Melting; Monitors; Optical fibers; Partial pressure; Pressure sensors; Sensors; Thermal expansion; Static ice pressure; fiber optic sensor; improved Y-type fiber bundle; pressure bellow
• ISSN: 1672-7975; 1993-0658
• DOI: 10.1007/s11770-015-0492-7

Static ice pressure affects safe operation of hydraulic structures. However, current detection methods are hindered by the following limitations: poor real-time performance and errors owing to the partial pressure of the surrounding wall on traditional electrical resistance strain bellow pressure sensors. We developed a fiber optic sensor with a special pressure bellow to monitor the static ice pressure on hydraulic structures and used the sensor to measure static pressure in laboratory ice growth and melting tests from −30°C to 5°C. The sensor resolution is 0.02 kPa and its sensitivity is 2.74 × 10 −4 /kPa. The experiments suggest that the static ice pressure peaks twice during ice growth and melting. The first peak appears when the ice temperature drops to −15°C owing to the liquid water to solid ice transition. The second peak appears at 0°C owing to the thermal expansion of the ice during ice melting. The novel fiber optic sensor exhibits stable performance, high resolution, and high sensitivity and it can be used to monitor the static ice pressure during ice growth and melting.