Pressure mapping sensor with an array of chirped sampled fiber gratings

In this paper, we report the development of a pressure mapping sensor using a chirped sampled fiber grating. The grating is embedded in fiber-reinforced composite. The magnitude of the pressure can be determined from the wavelength shift. The location of the pressure can be determined from the wavelength of the affected sub-grating. The concept has been extended to a two-dimensional array of chirped sampled grating with twenty sensing points in a 1 cm × 6 cm map. The array also gives the pressure and position information when the loading point is not directly on any grating or sub-grating.