DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPTICAL FIBER DYNAMIC SURFACE GEOMETRY MEASUREMENT ARRAY

DYNAMIC QUANTIFICATION OF THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL SURFACE GEOMETRY OF ANTHROPOMORPHIC TEST DEVICES CAN IMPROVE CURRENT INJURY ASSESSMENT CAPABILITIES. PRESENTLY, A CHEST BAND CONSISTING OF MANY STRAIN GAUGES MOUNTED IN A MEMBRANE ARRAY IS BEING USED TO MEASURE DEFORMATION OF THE TORSO. WHILE THIS TECHNIQUE PROVIDES REASONABLE DATA, IT INCREASES THE COSTOF DATA ACQUISITION AND THE TIME TO PERFORM THE TEST. ALSO, THE MEMBRANE ARRAY IS TOO STIFF TOMEASURE DEFORMATIONS DUE TO THE SHOULDER BELT OR OTHER LOCAL PENETRATIONS. THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO ACCOMPLISH THE SAME GOALS BY EMPLOYING AN OPTICAL FIBER DISTRIBUTED SENSING TECHNIQUE AND A SIMPLE LIGHT POWER MEASUREMENT METHOD. BY DETECTING DIFFERENT LASER OUTPUT INTENSITIES THROUGH A SPECIALLY TREATED OPTICAL FIBER, THE SURFACE DEFORMATION CAN BE DETECTED ACCURATELY. THE OBJECTIVES FOR PHASE I ARE: A) TO COMPLETE THE THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT FOR SURFACE DEFORMATION MEASUREMENT, B) TO MAKE A PROTOTYPE TO BE TESTED ON AN IMPACT ENVIRONMENT, C) TO CHECK THE ACCURACY AND THE FREQUENCY BANDWIDTH OF THIS SENSOR. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS NEW DEVICE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE THIN, FLEXIBLE, AND LOW COST CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OPTICAL FIBER. THORAX, ABDOMEN AND OTHER SURFACE DEFORMATIONS CAN BE MEASURED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITHOUT INCREASING DATA ACQUISITION COST. THIS TECHNIQUE CAN ALSO BE USED TO DETECT ANY DYNAMIC SURFACE DEFORMATION SUCH AS DOOR PENETRATION DURING SIDE IMPACT.