NUMERICAL MODEL OF THERMAL TRANSIENT EFFECT IN FIBER OPTIC GYRO

The sensitivity of the interferometric fiber optic gyro in the presence of time varying thermal gradients plays a key role in its performance. It is well known that this sensitivity is due to the difference of index changes between the points symmetrical with respect to the middle of the coil. In order to reduce this sensitivity, different winding patterns, such as quadrupolar winding, were introduced to keep the thermal environment of the symmetrical points. In this paper, a numerical model of the transient temperature distribution in the gyro was established. The temperature gradient of the coil was solved in conjugation with the nature convection heat transfer in the aperture between the coil and the case. Effects of the winding pattern and the design of its case were investigated to optimize the design of the interferometric fiber optic gyro.