In this paper, we present a synthesis of the parameters of the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and the reconstruction of the distributed strain affecting the grating, performed by means of its reflection spectrum. For this purpose, we applied the transition matrix method and the Nelder-Mead nonlinear optimization method. Reconstruction results of the strain profile carried out on the basis of a simulated reflection spectrum as well as measured reflection spectrum of the FBG indicate good agreement with the original strain profile; the profile reconstruction errors are within the single digit percentage range. We can conclude that the Nelder-Mead optimization method combined with the transition matrix method can be used for distributed sensing problems.

Noise control is essential in an enclosed machine room where the noise level has to comply with the occupational safety and health act. In order to overcome a pure tone noise with a high peak value that is harmful to human hearing, a traditional reactive muffler has been used. However, the traditional method for designing a reactive muffler has proven to be time-consuming and insufficient. In order to efficiently reduce the peak noise level, interest in shape optimization of a Helmholtz muffler is coming to the forefront.

Helmholtz mufflers that deal with a pure tone have been adequately researched. However, the shape optimization of multi-chamber Helmholtz mufflers that deal with a broadband noise hybridized with multiple tones within a constrained space has been mostly ignored. Therefore, this study analyzes the sound transmission loss (STL) and the best optimized design for a hybrid Helmholtz muffler under a space- constrained situation. On the basis of the plane wave theory, the four-pole system matrix used to evaluate the acoustic performance of a multi-tone hybrid Helmholtz muffler is presented. Two numerical cases for eliminating one/two tone noises emitted from a machine room using six kinds of mufflers (muffler A~F) is also introduced. To find the best acoustical performance of a space-constrained muffler, a numerical assessment using a simulated annealing (SA) method is adopted. Before the SA operation can be carried out, the accuracy of the mathematical model has been checked using the experimental data. Eliminating a broadband noise hybridized with a pure tone (130 Hz) in Case I reveals that muffler C composed of a one- chamber Helmholtz Resonator and a one-chamber dissipative element has a noise reduction of 54.9 (dB). Moreover, as indicated in Case II, muffler F, a two-chamber Helmholtz Resonator and a one-chamber dissipative element, has a noise reduction of 69.7 (dB). Obviously, the peak values of the pure tones in Case I and Case II are efficiently reduced after the muffler is added.

Consequently, a successful approach in eliminating a broadband noise hybridized with multiple tones using optimally shaped hybrid Helmholtz mufflers and a simulated annealing method within a constrained space is demonstrated.

In this paper, we theoretically analyze the slow-light π-phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (π-FBG) and its applications for single and multipoint/quasi-distributed sensing. Coupled-mode theory (CMT) and transfer matrix method (TMM) are used to establish the numerical modeling of slow-light π-FBG. The impact of slow-light FBG parameters, such as grating length (L), index change (Δn), and loss coefficient (α) on the spectral properties of π-FBG along with strain and thermal sensitivities are presented. Simulation results show that for the optimum grating parameters L = 50 mm, Δn = 1.5×10⁻⁴, and α = 0.10 m^-1, the proposed slow-light π-FBG is characterized with a peak transmissivity of 0.424, the maximum delay of 31.95 ns, strain sensitivity of 8.380 με^-1, and temperature sensitivity of 91.064 °C^-1. The strain and temperature sensitivity of proposed slow-light π-FBG is the highest as compared to the slow-light sensitivity of apodized FBGs reported in the literature. The proposed grating have the overall full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.2245 nm, and the FWHM of the Bragg wavelength peak transmissivity is of 0.0798 pm. The optimized slow-light π-FBG is used for quasi-distributed sensing applications. For the five-stage strain quasi-distributed sensing network, a high strain dynamic range of value 1469 με is obtained for sensors wavelength spacing as small as 2 nm. In the case of temperature of quasi-distributed sensing network, the obtained dynamic range is of 133°C. For measurement system with a sufficiently wide spectral range, the π-FBGs wavelength grid can be broadened which results in substantial increase of dynamic range of the system.