Development of Pressure Sensor Using Plastic Optical Fiber

Abstract

This research presents the development of a high-sensitivity pressure sensor using plastic optical fibers (POFs), offering a safe, reliable, and cost-effective alternative to conventional sensors. A POF is modified into a U-shaped sensor by bending method and connected to a white light source and spectrometer set up. The sensor employs a U-shaped design to enhance sensitivity by detecting light intensity changes due to pressure-induced strain. 3cm, 10 cm and 35 cm bending radius are used to determine the best performance for the sensor. The experimental setup includes a controlled weight application system and real-time optical monitoring. Results show that the sensor can detect minute pressure changes with high precision. The best results were obtained for a U radius of 3 cm which yielded a sensitivity of 55 units of intensity / gram. This is 2 times the sensitivity of the 10 cm and more than 4 times the sensitivity of the 35 cm radius sensor. Potential applications include industrial automation, environmental monitoring, and healthcare. This work demonstrates the viability of POF-based sensors in smart sensing networks and contributes to the advancement of next-generation optical sensing technologies.