Fiber Bragg grating distributed strain sensing: an adaptive simulated annealing algorithm approach

We demonstrate the use of adaptive simulated annealing (ASA) algorithm for determining the strain profile along a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) from its amplitude reflection spectrum. By combining the ASA algorithm and the matrix method for calculating the reflection spectrum of a FBG, the FBG sensor can be used for the distributed strain sensing. Experiments showed that the strain detection accuracy could be in the order of a few microstrains.