Abstract
Viscosity measurement by bend loss of fiber is presented. The sensing principle makes use of the damping characteristic of a vibrating optical fiber probe with fix-free end configuration. By measuring the displacement of the fiber probe, the viscosity can be determined by matching the probe's displacement with the displacement built in the database obtained by either experimental method or Finite element calculation. Experimental results are presented by measuring the sucrose and glycerol solutions of different concentrations with a viscosity varying from 1 to 15 cP. Stokes' flow assumption is utilized to attenuate the mass density effect and simplify the viscosity measurement. © 2009 SPIE.