Optical Fiber based Acoustic Sensor System for Utilities Monitoring

Professor Chen will present the results of developing an optical fiber-based acoustic sensor system and perform a live demonstration on the laser reel-to-reel fabrication of fiber sensors. The user can monitor a specified sound, ascertain its spectral content with respect to time, frequency, or amplitude, or view its location on a map. The system can be installed anywhere an optical fiber can be run- along other cables, in buildings, cable raceways, pipes tunnels, etc. and can be used to identify events based on the type of sound emitted. This would be particularly useful for utilities monitoring structures for indicators of impending faults. The distributed fiber sensors use the entire length of optical fiber to monitor acoustic signals (10Hz to 30kHz, 3-m spatial resolution, 50-pico-strain sensitivity) along the entire fiber length. It also monitors temperature, strain, and load (force) with different fiber packaging. The distributed fiber sensor is fully integrated with the UAV and online GIS system. We will discuss the application of fiber sensors for infrastructure monitoring and energy system (electricity, oil, gas, renewable). The meeting begins with a light dinner, then a presentation, and then a demonstration of the system in operation. Speaker(s): Professor Kevin Chen, Agenda: 6:30 pm Light Dinner 7:00 pm Presentation 8:00 pm Demonstration Room: TBD, Bldg: Benedum Hall Engineering Building (EE), University of Pittsburgh, 3700 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213