A composite optical bench made up of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) skin and aluminum honeycomb has been developed for the Tunable Magnetograph instrument (TuMag) for the SUNRISE III mission within the NASA Long Duration Balloon Program. This optical bench has been designed to meet lightweight and low sensitivity to thermal gradient requirements, resulting in a low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE). In addition to the flight model, a breadboard model identical to the flight one has been manufactured, including embedded fiber Bragg temperature and strain sensors. The aim of this is to explore if the use of distributed fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) can provide valuable information for strain and temperature mapping of an optical instrument on board a space mission during its operation as well as its on-ground testing. Furthermore, surface-mounted strain FBG sensors and thermocouples have been installed in the optical bench for intercomparison purposes. This paper presents the results obtained from a thermal vacuum test consisting of three thermal cycles with stabilization steps at 100 °C, 60 °C, 20 °C and −20 °C. Experimental results provide information about how FBG embedded temperature sensors can provide a proper and quick response to the temperature changes of the optical bench and that embedded FBG strain sensors are able to measure micro-deformation induced in a close-to-zero CTE optical bench.

We present an optical sensing methodology to estimate the fatigue damage state of structures made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), by measuring variations on the surface roughness. Variable amplitude loads (VAL), which represent realistic loads during aeronautical missions of fighter aircraft (FALSTAFF) have been applied to coupons until failure. Stiffness degradation and surface roughness variations have been measured during the life of the coupons obtaining a Pearson correlation of 0.75 between both variables. The data were compared with a previous study for Constant Amplitude Load (CAL) obtaining similar results. Conclusions suggest that the surface roughness measured in strategic zones is a useful technique for structural health monitoring of CFRP structures, and that it is independent of the type of load applied. Surface roughness can be measured in the field by optical techniques such as speckle, confocal perfilometers and interferometry, among others.

This work presents an experimental study on the effects of gamma radiation on Long Period Fiber Gratings (LPFGs) in a low-dose test campaign to evaluate their eventual degradation. The study was carried out with standard single-mode fibers where the grating was inscribed using the Electric-Arc Discharge (EAD) technique. Before the gamma campaign, a detailed optical characterization was performed with repeatability tests to verify the accuracy of the setup and the associated error sources. The gamma-induced changes up to a dose of 200 krad and the recovery after radiation were monitored with the Dip Wavelength Shift (DWS). The results show that the gamma sensitivity for a total dose of 200 krad is 11 pm/krad and a total DWS of 2.3 nm has been observed with no linear dependence. Post-radiation study shows that recovery from radiation-induced wavelength shift is nearly complete in about 4000 h. Experimental results show that the changes suffered under gamma irradiation of these LPFGs are temporary making them a good choice as sensors in space applications.

This work presents an optical non-contact technique to evaluate the fatigue damage state of CFRP structures measuring the irregularity factor of the surface. This factor includes information about surface topology and can be measured easily on field, by techniques such as optical perfilometers. The surface irregularity factor has been correlated with stiffness degradation, which is a well-accepted parameter for the evaluation of the fatigue damage state of composite materials. Constant amplitude fatigue loads (CAL) and realistic variable amplitude loads (VAL), representative of real in- flight conditions, have been applied to “dog bone” shaped tensile specimens. It has been shown that the measurement of the surface irregularity parameters can be applied to evaluate the damage state of a structure, and that it is independent of the type of fatigue load that has caused the damage. As a result, this measurement technique is applicable for a wide range of inspections of composite material structures, from pressurized tanks with constant amplitude loads, to variable amplitude loaded aeronautical structures such as wings and empennages, up to automotive and other industrial applications.

The ITER equatorial visible and infrared Wide Angle Viewing System (WAVS) will play a major role in the protection of plasma facing components by providing surface temperature measurements of these components. It will also image the plasma emission in the visible range. The WAVS is composed of 15 lines of sight located in four Equatorial Ports (EPs) 3, 9, 12, and 17. Its development is being carried out by the Consortium constituted by CEA, CIEMAT, INTA, and Bertin Technologies, within grant contracts financed by F4E. In the EP12, the in-vessel and ex-vessel components of the WAVS are at their final design phase. This article presents an overview of the opto-mechanical design of the WAVS in the EP12 presented at the final design review.

Far infrared spectrometers have a prominent role to play in future space missions devoted to unveiling the obscure universe. Diffraction gratings are the heart of these instruments that, when operating in the range of a few THz, shall cover a wide spectral range providing the highest resolution and efficiency, generally for only a single polarization, within the specified spectral range. This contribution describes the optimization of the diffraction efficiency of the first diffractive order for a blazed metallic grating working at a large angle of incidence. Since the grating period is of the same order of magnitude as the wavelength, it is necessary to approach the design by solving Maxwell's equations rigorously using computational electromagnetism. We have applied the Rigorous Coupled-Wave Analysis and the Finite Element Methods to simulate the performance of the grating. This analysis provides relevant hints for the selection of the period, and the blaze and slant angles of the grating. A metallic blazed grating has been fabricated on aluminum and its topography has been characterized to determine the discrepancies with respect to the nominal values. The fabricated profile has been simulated to obtain the expected results in efficiency in comparison with the ideal case. This analysis provides guidance for improved manufacturing processes and experimental verification.