Distributed vibration and temperature simultaneous sensing using one optical fiber

Optical fiber distributed vibration and temperature sensor are very important for many applications. It is challenging to design a hybrid vibration and temperature sensing system because multi-parameter simultaneous sensing is the common requirement in most applications. In this paper, we demonstrated a novel distributed vibration and temperature simultaneous sensing system using standard optical fiber, which based on Rayleigh and Raman backscattering light. We have performed several temperature and vibration tests under different circumstances. The maximum temperature measurement deviation is 0.6 °C and maximum consistency deviation of three sensing units is 0.9 °C. The continuous vibration signal has been detected by using standard audio signal as the vibration source and the detectable frequency range is 0 Hz–5 kHz. In particular, we have carried simultaneous sensing test, which the vibration and temperature signals are detected successfully by one sensing unit at the same time. This new optical fiber distributed multi-parameter simultaneous sensing system is potentially used in pipeline and power cable for temperature and vibration monitoring. •A novel distributed vibration and temperature simultaneous sensing system using standard optical fiber.•The proposed system can measure vibration and temperature signal sensitively.•The vibration and temperature signals are detected successfully by one sensing unit at the same time.