Ferrule-top cantilever optical fiber sensor for velocity measurements of low speed air flows

We present the application of a ferrule-top cantilever optical fiber sensor to measure the velocity of low speed air flows. The sensor is statically characterized against a Pitot tube in a small wind-tunnel and both probes are facing the flow in its laminar region. The ferrule-top sensor is equipped with a single-wavelength interferometric readout and it shows good sensitivity and short-term repeatability, despite the fact that the geometry and the read-out are not optimized.