Study of surface roughness of corroded metals using plastic optical fiber sensor

The broad objective of this paper is to study the surface of the corroded metals by using proximity sensor which works on the principle of light scattering by objects. The present work discussed a simple low cost sensor design making use of plastic optical fiber. The sensor used is insensitive to source fluctuation and can detect surface roughness of the metals. The average surface roughness of the samples in different concentrations of acidic medium has been studied using the sensor. The reflected light intensity from the surface of sample metals was collected and measured as a function of lateral distance to estimate the roughness of the surface. The results have been compared with the stylus measurements.