Measurements of radiation vibrations of turbomachine blades using an optical-fiber displacement-sensing system

Turbomachine blades are critical equipment in the energy, chemical, aviation, and shipbuilding industries. Turbomachine-blade vibrations can cause high cycle fatigue, which reduces the blade lifetime. Their stable operation is a determining factor of safe and efficient production. In order to monitor and detect the turbomachine-blade vibrations and check whether whole or partial performance is normally operating, we design a reflective intensity-modulated optical-fiber sensing system for radial vibration detection of turbomachine blades and introduce the basic principles of the detection system in detail. We study some key technologies such as the control system of the laser-diode (LD) constant power and an optical-fiber coupling system with the optical-fiber-bundle structure. We analyze the sensor output characteristics and present some numerical simulations. In view of our experimental results, we show that the system elaborated can eliminate the effects caused by light-intensity fluctuations, optical-fiber flexural losses, and changes in the surface reflection coefficient, and can detect the radial vibrations of turbomachine blades in the presence of strong electromagnetic interference and under high temperatures.