Perspective Chapter: Determination of Elastic Properties of Materials Using Fiber Optic Sensors

This chapter presents a brief theoretical overview of long-period (LPG) optical fiber gratings etched onto commercial single-mode optical fibers and their applications in determining the elastic properties of various materials (wood, metals, and acrylic), as well as in measuring vibrations and speed of sound. The measurements are based on the change in optical fiber transmittance when varying the period of the LPG grating due to the stretching or curvature of the optical fiber. The experimental setups used in the measurements as well as the results obtained are present. It is shown that the values obtained using this optical technique show good agreement with values obtained for the same observables using other techniques.