Stress concentration measurement in a rectangular plate using an array of embedded optical fibers

Embedded single mode optical fiber waveguide has been used to determine the two-dimensional stress distribution produced by point loading on a simply supported rectangular plate. Each of the fifty individual fibers in the rectangular grid array attached to the plate yields a measurement of the stress integrated along the length of that fiber on the specimen. By using information from all the fibers, both the functional form and the amplitude of the distribution may be determined. Limits on the dynamic range and spatial resolution are indicated. Applications in the measurement of internal stress and the monitoring of physically small critical structural components are suggested.