A course on fibre optic sensors for structural condition monitoring and biomedical measurements

The training conducted by PW specialists was dedicated to entrepreneurs and employees of research institutes who wanted to learn about the technology of using fibre optic sensors to monitor composite structures.

The one-day training session was divided into three parts. In the beginning, the trainers presented in the laboratory at the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology how fibre optic sensors with Bragg gratings are manufactured. Then, at the Faculty of Physics, students could see how previously manufactured sensors are laminated in composite materials. In the last part conducted at the Institute of Microelectronics at WEiTI, the participants saw a presentation of various methods of characterisation and reading of finished elements that are produced together with sensors.

"In the first stage of the training, we recorded the Bragg grating on an ordinary optical fibre, and then we used interferometric methods to show the characteristics of the sensor before it was laminated," explains Piotr Sobotka, PhD. "Then, at the Faculty of Physics, we placed the same sensors in a composite material. We presented the entire process from the inside,” he adds.

As part of the project, 4 training sessions were run. A team of experts is considering the continuation of the project in the form of an Excellence-Center.

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The project "Fibre optic sensors for structural condition monitoring and biomedical measurements" is financed by the POB Photonic Technologies of the Excellence Initiative - Research University programme, which is implemented at the Warsaw University of Technology.

Team members:
Piotr Sobotka, PhD; Professor Piotr Lesiak; Tomasz Osuch, PhD; Professor Ryszard Piramidowicz.