title: A Low Frequency FBG Accelerometer with Symmetrical Bended Spring Plates.
abstract: To meet the requirements for low-frequency vibration monitoring, a new type of FBG (fiber Bragg grating) accelerometer with a bended spring plate is proposed. Two symmetrical bended spring plates are used as elastic elements, which drive the FBG to produce axial strains equal in magnitude but opposite in direction when exciting vibrations exist, leading to doubling the wavelength shift of the FBG. The mechanics model and a numerical method are presented in this paper, with which the influence of the structural parameters on the sensitivity and the eigenfrequency are discussed. The test results show that the sensitivity of the accelerometer is more than 1000 pm/g when the frequency is within the 0.7-20 Hz range.
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, 430070 Wuhan, China. liufufei_2000@126.com.
authors.forename: Fufei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, 430070 Wuhan, China. daiyt6688@whut.edu.com.
authors.forename: Yutang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Pwani University, P.O. Box 195-80108 Kilifi, Kenya. kamuna2007@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Joseph Muna
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Karanja
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, 430070 Wuhan, China. minghong_yang@whut.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Minghong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: accelerometer; fiber optics sensor; low frequency; vibration monitoring