Patent ID: 7317849

Claim:
An optical fiber sensor for detecting curvature of a body/structure, comprising: a cladding having an outer periphery; a central core for receiving and transmitting light, the central core having Bragg gratings and being positioned in a first neutral plane of the cladding, such that the Bragg gratings of the central core are generally insensitive to bending about a first axis associated with the first neutral plane and sensitive to temperature variations; at least one peripheral core for receiving and transmitting light, the at least one peripheral core having Bragg gratings and being peripherally positioned in the cladding with respect to the first neutral plane such that the Bragg gratings of the at least one peripheral core are sensitive to bending about the first axis and to temperature variations; and a connection configuration in the outer periphery of the cladding to attach the optical fiber sensor to a body/structure such that the central core and the at least one peripheral core are in a predetermined position and orientation with respect to the body/structure, so as to measure curvature of the body/structure about at least the first axis independently of the effect of temperature variations by associating the Bragg wavelengths of the central core and of the at least one peripheral core.