Omnisens Sa

Marc Nikles

Etienne Rochat

Jean-Charles Montavon

Fabien Briffod

Chin Sanghoon

A method for detecting a structural fault in a structure includes the steps of, (a) performing a Brillouin measurement at a point along a sensing optical fiber which operably cooperates with the structure, to obtain a Brillouin gain spectrum at that point; (b) identifying at least two curves which, when added together, best fit the Brillouin gain spectrum; (c) identifying if peaks of the least two curves occur at different frequencies so as to determine if the structure has a structural fault. There is further provided a corresponding apparatus for detecting a structural fault in a structure.

Method and apparatus for detecting a structural fault in a structure using a brillouin gain spectrum obtained at a point along a sensing optical fiber

Brillouin optical distributed sensing device and method is provided and includes a structure for generating an optical pulsed signal and an optical probe signal. The structure includes a circulation component for directing the optical pulsed signal to a sensing optical fiber, and directing an optical measurement signal with Brillouin scattering information arising from the sensing optical fiber toward a detection apparatus. Also included is an optical routing component for configuring the device to allow generating: (i) according to a first configuration, an optical measurement signal with stimulated Brillouin scattering information resulting from the interaction of the optical pulsed signal, and an optical probe signal propagating in the sensing optical fiber in a direction opposite to the optical pulsed signal, or (ii) according to a second configuration, an optical measurement signal with spontaneous Brillouin scattering information resulting from the propagation of the optical pulsed signal in the sensing optical fiber.

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Attalens, Switzerland

Marc Nikles