JP2008175560A - Optical fiber sensor cable - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive distributed optical fiber sensor cable capable of measuring an accurate hydraulic pressure value. <P>SOLUTION: This optical fiber sensor cable is characterized by having a tubular inside core comprising a flexible material, an optical fiber for measuring a hydraulic pressure wound spirally on the outer circumference of the inside core, an optical fiber for measuring longitudinal strain arranged and buried inside the wall thickness of the inside core, a metal pipe with an opening part disposed in the tube of the inside core, an optical fiber for temperature compensation disposed loosely together with a tensile strength fiber in the metal pipe with the opening part, and a coating for covering the outer circumference of the inside core and the optical fiber for measuring the hydraulic pressure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber sensor cable that detects a change in water pressure as a strain change from a frequency shift amount of Brillouin scattered light by high resolution BOTDA (Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis) and detects an abnormality in water pressure distribution. The optical fiber sensor cable of the present invention has a structure that enables measurement of water pressure, longitudinal strain, and temperature distribution at a time.

  Conventionally, as a sensor for detecting water pressure, hydraulic pressure, etc., an electric type or a multi-point type sensor that detects a specific position by processing a part of an optical fiber has been used. However, this type of conventional sensor is composed of a connection cable between the sensor portion and the measuring instrument, and it is necessary to prepare a large number of sensor portions in order to measure a wide range, resulting in an increase in cost. Moreover, it is impossible to measure the water pressure etc. other than the place where it was installed in advance, and careful planning is required for installation. Further, not only in an electric type but also in an optical fiber multi-point type sensor, the sensor part is affected by electrical noise because metal parts are used in terms of strength and function. Furthermore, the electric sensor has a short service life and is not suitable for long-term monitoring exceeding 5 years.

  On the other hand, a distributed optical fiber sensor that can continuously detect water pressure, hydraulic pressure, and other pressures using an optical fiber in the sensor section can solve the problems of the conventional sensors described above. It has been. Conventionally, as this distributed optical fiber sensor, for example, techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 6 have been proposed.

  In Patent Document 1, two fibers are spirally wound and fixed to the inner layer inside the hollow pipe wall thickness, and another two optical fibers are spirally wound and fixed to the outer layer. An optical fiber sensor that detects strain is disclosed.

  In Patent Document 2, a pressure sensing optical fiber is spirally wound around the outer peripheral surface of a mandrel to form a sensing coil. On the other hand, a temperature compensation reference optical fiber is loosely accommodated in a groove, thereby correcting the temperature of the measurement value. An optical fiber sensor that obtains accurate pressure is disclosed.

  In Patent Document 3, a temperature-compensating optical fiber is loosely accommodated in an inner-layer hollow pipe, and a strain (elongation) detecting optical fiber is fixed between the inner-layer pipe and the outer-layer pipe with a resin to accurately correct the temperature. An optical fiber sensor capable of measuring a large strain (elongation) is disclosed.

  Patent Document 4 discloses that temperature correction is performed by a system that detects strain (elongation) from a frequency shift of Brillouin scattered light.

  Patent Document 5 discloses a structure in which a communication optical fiber is housed loosely in a hollow pipe and a pressure detection optical fiber is spirally wound on the outer periphery of the hollow pipe.

In Patent Document 6, an optical fiber for strain (elongation) detection is fixedly embedded in the pipe longitudinal direction on the outer periphery of the pipe or in the wall thickness, while the temperature compensating optical fiber is housed loosely in the tube and the pipe length An optical fiber sensor fixedly embedded in a direction is disclosed.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0071158 US Pat. No. 5,475,216 US Pat. No. 5,094,527 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-173943 JP-A-6-43056 JP 2002-156215 A

However, the above-described conventional technique has the following problems.
Since the optical fiber sensor disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a structure in which all the optical fibers are spirally wound, two or more factors of radial direction, axial direction, torsional stress, and temperature work at the same time, and the variable is 2 If there are more than one, the information obtained from the spirally wound optical fiber is one (2 in the case of the counter-winding), so it is unclear which factor is the pressure value that worked, and it is accurate The pressure value cannot be detected.

  The optical fiber sensor disclosed in Patent Document 2 is a multi-point pressure sensor in which densely wound sensing portions are intermittently installed in the longitudinal direction, and structurally a point sensor is connected in a daisy chain. Therefore, continuous sensing along the longitudinal direction is not possible.

  The optical fiber sensor disclosed in Patent Document 3 is inserted as a temperature compensation fiber so that no stress is applied to the optical fiber. However, the function of the temperature compensation fiber is achieved only by inserting without attaching to the housing. However, the extra fiber length is always required, and means for securing the extra length (twisting, intermittent fixing, etc.) is required.

  The optical fiber sensor disclosed in Patent Document 4 is configured to perform temperature correction by comparing a strain-applied optical fiber (strain measurement fiber) and a non-applied optical fiber (temperature compensation fiber). The temperature compensation method is fundamentally different because the temperature compensation is performed by comparing the fiber to which (1) is applied (strain measurement fiber) and the fiber to which the fiber is not applied (temperature compensation fiber).

  As in the sensor of Patent Document 1, the optical fiber sensor disclosed in Patent Document 5 has two or more factors of radial direction, axial direction, torsional stress, and temperature at the same time by simply spiraling the optical fiber. When there are two or more variables, it is unclear which factor is the pressure value at which the variable worked, and an accurate pressure value cannot be detected.

  In the optical fiber sensor disclosed in Patent Document 6, it is difficult to function sufficiently for temperature compensation only by accommodating the temperature compensating optical fiber loosely in the tube. Necessary and means for securing the extra length (twisting, intermittent fixing, etc.) are required.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a low-cost distributed optical fiber sensor cable capable of measuring an accurate water pressure value.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an intermediate core made of a flexible tube, a water pressure measuring optical fiber spirally wound around the outer periphery of the intermediate core, and a longitudinal length embedded in the thickness of the intermediate core. Directional strain measuring optical fiber, a metal pipe with an opening disposed in the tube of the middle core, a temperature compensating optical fiber disposed loosely together with a tensile fiber in the tube of the metal pipe with an opening, An optical fiber sensor cable comprising an outer sheath covering the outer periphery of the middle core and an optical fiber for water pressure measurement is provided.

  In the optical fiber sensor cable of the present invention, the metal pipe with an opening is preferably a metal pipe having a C-shaped cross section or a pair of half metal pipes.

  In the optical fiber sensor cable of the present invention, the temperature compensating optical fiber is loosely housed in the middle core pipe through the metal pipe with the opening, and the axial direction strain compensating optical fiber is buried in the middle core thickness. In addition, since the pressure measuring optical fiber is spirally wound around the outer periphery of the middle core, the pressure (strain) measured by the pressure measuring optical fiber is measured in the sensor axial direction measured by the axial strain compensating optical fiber. By correcting the distortion and the distortion caused by the temperature change measured by the temperature compensating optical fiber, the accurate pressure value applied to the sensor can be continuously detected over the sensor longitudinal direction.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the optical fiber sensor cable of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 are views showing a first embodiment of an optical fiber sensor cable according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the optical fiber sensor cable 1, and FIG. In these drawings, reference numeral 1 is an optical fiber pressure sensor cable, 2 is an inner core, 3 is a jacket, 4 is an optical fiber for water pressure measurement, 5 is an optical fiber for longitudinal strain compensation, 6 is an optical fiber for temperature compensation, 7 is a metal pipe with an opening, 8 is an opening, and 9 is a tensile strength fiber.

  The optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the present embodiment is embedded in the middle core 2 made of a flexible tube, the water pressure measuring optical fiber 4 spirally wound around the outer periphery of the middle core 2, and the thickness of the middle core 2. The longitudinal strain measuring optical fiber 5, the metal pipe 7 with an opening disposed in the tube of the middle core 2, and the temperature disposed loosely together with the tensile fiber 9 in the tube of the metal pipe 7 with the opening. The optical fiber for compensation 6 and the jacket 3 that covers the outer periphery of the middle core 2 and the optical fiber 4 for measuring water pressure are configured.

  The optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the present embodiment (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as “cable”) has a water pressure measurement optical fiber 4 spirally wound around the outer periphery of a circular middle core 2 and is integrated with the middle core 2. It has become.

  A metal pipe 7 with an opening is accommodated in the tube of the middle core 2, and the temperature compensating optical fiber 6 is twisted around the tensile strength fiber 9 or vertically attached in the metal pipe 7 with an opening. Contained in Loose.

  Since the optical fiber is affected by the environmental temperature, the temperature compensating optical fiber 6 is arranged without being fixed in the tube of the middle core 2. An extra length is secured by twisting the temperature compensating optical fiber 6 around the tensile strength fiber 9 so that the cable 1 is not affected even if the cable 1 is subjected to tension in the axial direction, and the optical fiber is vibrated due to vibration, dead weight or the like. Has a structure that does not move.

  In the wall thickness of the middle core 2, the longitudinal strain measuring optical fiber 5 is disposed in order to compensate when the cable 1 is disposed in the vertical direction and receives tension in the axial direction due to the influence of its own weight or the like.

  The outer jacket 3 uses a plastic resin in the same manner as the inner core 2. The jacket 3 can transmit the water pressure applied from the outside of the optical fiber sensor cable 1 directly to the water pressure measuring optical fiber 4 and can prevent the penetration of water into the jacket 3. Is formed.

  The metal pipe 7 with an opening disposed in the tube of the middle core 2 serves as a tensile body, and suppresses strain caused by expansion and contraction of the jacket 3 due to temperature change from being applied to the longitudinal strain measuring optical fiber 5. . Further, since the opening 8 is provided, it is possible to easily extract the fiber simply by pulling the fiber from the opening 8 during the connection work. There is no need to bother processing metal pipes for squeezing.

  Further, the metal pipe 7 with an opening also serves as a protector, and can prevent the water pressure applied in the cable axial direction from being applied to the temperature compensating fiber 6.

  The temperature compensation optical fiber 6 is not applied with strain due to pressure, tension, etc., and only the Brillouin shift amount caused by the temperature change is detected as the strain amount, and temperature information can be obtained in a distributed manner by the change amount. It becomes.

  The metal pipe 7 with an opening disposed in the middle core 2 is subjected to restraining winding by laterally or vertically interposing an interposition. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the fiber from jumping out from the opening 8 and the deformation of the inner core 2 and the material from entering the inside of the pipe. For example, it is possible to prevent an increase in loss due to the bending of the fiber. is there.

  The optical fiber sensor cable 1 of this embodiment receives a compressive stress in an axial direction and a longitudinal direction when pressure is applied. Since the water pressure measuring optical fiber 4 is integrated with the middle core 2, it receives compressive stress (compressive strain) together. The compressive stress is detected as a strain change from the frequency shift amount of the Brillouin scattered light by high resolution BOTDA (Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis). The strain detected by the water pressure measuring optical fiber 4 includes temperature and strain in the axial direction. In order to eliminate the influence, the strain obtained from the longitudinal strain measuring optical fiber 5 and the temperature compensating optical fiber 6 is subtracted to obtain an accurate strain amount due to water pressure.

Next, the principle of strain detection by the optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the principle of strain detection of the optical fiber sensor cable 1. Here, the inner core inner radius is a, the outer core outer radius is r, and the outermost sensor diameter is b.

(1) Plane strain state Stress / strain distribution can be obtained by integrating the equilibrium equation of the three-dimensional axis object problem.

  Stress is calculated | required by the following Formula (1)-(3).

  The strain is determined by the following formulas (4) to (6).

  The strain measured by the optical fiber is obtained by the following expressions (7) to (8).

  Since the optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the present embodiment has the role of a water pressure (pressure) sensor as a whole, it is possible to detect the water pressure (pressure) at all locations where the cable is installed in a distributed manner. .

  The optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the present embodiment has the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, so that it is possible to measure and measure the strain due to the cable's own weight, the strain due to the water pressure, and the strain due to the temperature change, By subtracting the strain obtained from the longitudinal strain measuring optical fiber 5 and the temperature compensating optical fiber 6 from the strain detected by the water pressure measuring optical fiber 4, the amount of strain due to the water pressure can be accurately detected.

In the optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the present embodiment, the temperature compensating optical fiber 6 has a loose structure so as not to be affected by the extension of the cable or the water pressure by being vertically attached to the tube by the forming of the metal tape, By disposing the tensile strength fibers 9, for example, aramid fibers, it is possible to prevent the positional information from being shifted due to the movement of the core wire.
Moreover, it is preferable to use the stainless steel tape for the metal tape used for the said tube formation in order to prevent generation | occurrence | production of the rust by presence of a water | moisture content. Moreover, it is not limited to stainless steel, and any metal that has been subjected to rust prevention processing may be used.
Further, the number of strain measurement fibers is not limited to one, but may be at least one.
In addition, the elastic modulus of the material of the jacket 3 is preferably lower than the elastic modulus of the material of the middle core 2 so that the measurement optical fiber can sufficiently detect the amount of strain change caused by the target water pressure. . Specific examples of the material include polyurethane for the middle core 2 and thermoplastic elastomer (Hytrel (registered trademark)) for the outer cover 3, but combinations of the same kind of materials may be used as long as the conditions are satisfied.

  5 and 6 are views showing a second embodiment of the optical fiber sensor cable of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the optical fiber sensor cable 10 and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view. The optical fiber sensor cable 10 of the present embodiment is the same as the optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the first embodiment except that a halved metal pipe 11 is used instead of the metal pipe 7 with an opening. The same reference numerals are given to the constituent elements.

  In the optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the metal pipe 7 with an opening having a C-shaped cross section is arranged in the tube of the middle core 2. As shown in FIG. 3B, the fiber sensor cable 10 uses a half metal pipe 11 made up of a pair of divided pieces 12a and 12b having a circular arc cross section.

  The optical fiber sensor cable 10 of the present embodiment is obtained by twisting or vertically attaching a temperature compensating optical fiber 6 around a tensile strength fiber 9 in a halved metal pipe 11 shown in FIG. The middle core 2 is constructed by covering the inside with a horizontal winding or vertical attachment and covering with a plastic resin. Further, an optical fiber 4 for water pressure measurement is spirally wound around the outer periphery of the inner core 2 so as to be integrated with the inner core 2, and a plastic resin outer jacket 3 is covered thereon to form a cable.

  The optical fiber sensor cable 10 according to the present embodiment can measure the strain due to the cable weight, the strain due to the water pressure, and the strain due to the temperature change separately from the strain detected by the water pressure measuring optical fiber 4. Similar to the optical fiber sensor cable 1 of the first embodiment, for example, by subtracting the strain obtained from the directional strain measurement optical fiber 5 and the temperature compensation optical fiber 6, the amount of strain due to water pressure can be accurately detected. The effect of can be obtained.

  The optical fiber sensor cable according to the present invention can be applied to a place where the pressure distribution needs to be measured in addition to the measurement of the water pressure. For example, it is possible to measure whether a certain area has a uniform pressure or a distribution of gas or liquid.

It is a perspective view which shows 1st Embodiment of the optical fiber sensor cable of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the optical fiber sensor cable of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the metal pipe with an opening part, (a) is a perspective view of the metal pipe with an opening part used for 1st Embodiment, (b) is a perspective view of the half metal pipe used for 2nd Embodiment. It is. It is sectional drawing explaining the principle of the distortion detection of the optical fiber sensor cable which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows 2nd Embodiment of the optical fiber sensor cable of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the optical fiber sensor cable of 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,10 ... Optical fiber pressure sensor cable, 2 ... Medium core, 3 ... Jacket | cover, 4 ... Water pressure measuring optical fiber, 5 ... Longitudinal distortion compensation optical fiber, 6 ... Temperature compensation optical fiber, 7 ... Opening Metal pipe, 8 ... opening, 9 ... Tensile fiber, 11 ... Half metal pipe, 12a, 12b ... Divided pieces.

Claims (2)

  An intermediate core made of a flexible tube, a hydraulic pressure measuring optical fiber spirally wound around the outer periphery of the intermediate core, a longitudinal strain measuring optical fiber embedded in the thickness of the intermediate core, and the intermediate core A metal pipe with an opening disposed in the tube, a temperature compensating optical fiber disposed loosely together with a tensile strength fiber in the tube of the metal pipe with an opening, and an optical fiber for measuring the outer circumference of the middle core and the water pressure An optical fiber sensor cable having a jacket covering the cable.   The optical fiber sensor cable according to claim 1, wherein the metal pipe with an opening is a metal pipe having a C-shaped cross section or a pair of halved metal pipes.

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