Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

mechanical specifications of optical fiber

optical aspects
mechanical aspects
fiber handling
good workman ship

4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Fiber is intrinsically very reliable in a benign environment

Most failures are caused by poor cable choice, poor installation or accidental
damage
Intrinsic tensile strength exceeds that of an equivalent steel wire
Theoretical strength is 20 GPa
Due to surface defects such as flaws and cracks, strength in practice is much
lower, typically 5 GPa

Copied from optical communications systems, D.I.T. dr. Gerald Farrell

4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Mechanical specifications for fiber handling

manufacturer specs :
tensile proof stress
coating strip force
fiber curl
bending radius
fatigue resistance: Nd

> 100kpsi ~ 0.7 GPa (after ITU specs and 0.68kg for SMF-28)
Dry: 3 N (~300 gr.) Wet, 14-day @ room temp. 3N
> 4.0 m radius curve
macrobend loss tabel
(not only optical)
20
(susceptibility parameter)

poor specifications for stress on fiber in relation to time and temperature

coating strip force?
bending radius?
weakness or flaws?
moister and high temperatures, do they accelerate fiber cracks?
silica elastic coefficient less 0.2%
4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Optical aspects:
The need to understand the fiber design parameters for the system.
e.g. accurate designs, like dispersion, attenuation, wavelength,
polarization mode dispersion, stability, etc.
At the end, how to detect a 1 and 0.
Specs influences the parameters negatively,
fiber imperfections, splice loss and quality, temperature, mechanical forces
applied to the fiber
Use of the fiber imperfections:
OTDR based on Rayleigh backscattering (normal OTDR)
OTDR based on Brillouin scattering (fiber stress OTDR measurements)
Special made fibers:
Fiber-Bragg-Grating for sensor applications, like temperature control, tensile stress
measurements, etc
Brillouin scattering: In a physical medium, scattering of lightwaves, caused by thermally driven density fluctuations.
Note: Brillouin scattering may cause frequency shifts of several gigahertz at room temperature
graded-index fiber: An optical fiber with a core having a refractive index that decreases with increasing radial distance from the
fiber axis. Note: The most common refractive index profile for a graded-index fiber is very nearly parabolic. The parabolic profile
results in continual refocusing of the rays in the core, and compensates for multimode distortion.

4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

applied tensile stress force on smf-28 fiber fabrication (after ITU specifications)
radius
r
diameter
D
cross section A
pressure

applied Force Fa

6,25E-05
1,25E-04
1,23E-08
1,23E-02
1,00E+05
6,89E+08
6,89E+08
8,46E+00

m
graviation
9,81
m
conversion 0,000145038
m2
mm2
psi
Pa
(pressure equal to one newton per square meter)
N/m2
N

for a fraction
0,86 kg
Typical proof test stress is three times normal service maximum

4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

of a second!

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Statement:
Advancements in mechanical strength and reliability optical fibers (Corning)
With the cable subjected to the rated installation load for one hour, fibers shall
exhibit a maximum tensile strain of 60% of the fiber proof strain.
(before september 1999 Bellcore spec.)

Recent strength testing results show that proof stress level flaw will fail in
minutes if loaded to 60% of the fiber proof strain
This causes delayed failures (subcritical crack growth)

Ref: Advancements in Mechanical Strength and Reliability of Optical Fibers

http://www.corning.com/docs/opticalfiber/tr3541.pdf
4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Time relation to fiber damages
V
K1

a
Y
A
n

K1 = Yaa
n

V = AK1

crack velocity
stress intensity factor
applied stress
crack depth
shape factor (crack geometry and loading conditions)
crack grow parameters (depth)
crack grow parameters (fatigue resistance )

Fatigue susceptibility parameter n

Larger values of n mean faster crack
growth, shorter life time
Stress accelerates crack and flaw growth

da/dt = A(Yaa)n
Ref: DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR THE MECHANICAL RELIABILITY OF OPTICAL FIBER
http://www.corning.com/docs/opticalfiber/r3257.pdf
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Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

time to failure tf is given by:

tf = As-n
A is constant and n is the fatigue susceptibility
For n = 20 and a stress s is applied for 1 sec.
equals a stress of 0.35 s Applied for 40 years

The n value is a measure of a fibers resistance to fatigue

typically 20 for acrylate, or polyamide coated fibers
And 20 for SMF-28e fiber

ref:http://www.electronics.dit.ie/staff/tfreir/ft220/ME%201.7%20Bending%20Loss%20&%20Fibre%20Stress%20and%
20Reliability%20web%20version.pdf
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Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Effect of moister
Moister does not penetrate silica glass, so it does not affect propagation
Presence of water as HO ions on the fiber surface accelerates crack growth
Moister protection in a fiber cable is most important.
Imperfects which causes decrease in life time of a fiber is generally called
stress corrosion

Effect of temperature
At 90 oC the n value is significant higher than at 25 oC
Fiber strength decreases by 25% at 90 oC
ref:http://www.electronics.dit.ie/staff/tfreir/ft220/ME%201.7%20Bending%20Loss%20&%20Fibre%20Stress%20and%
20Reliability%20web%20version.pdf
4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Core
Silica
Primary coating (polyamide)

125

250

? m

Secundairy coating
The handling of optical fiber in addition to the mechanical specs:
Optical units like pigtailed lasers, pin or apd diode's, DWDM (de) multiplexers etc.
mostly have reinforced secondary coatings and are hard to strip.
(tight buffered, loose tube, semi tight buffered fibers)
Some manufactures have extra reinforced primary coatings
(e.g. polyamide alone or carbon-polyamide)
Fibers for extentions
Cables containing fibers are fragile and reinforcements for the fiber protection is
difficult.
Thumb rule for commercial cables bending radius approximate 15x its diameter, but only for the worktime (1hour?)
4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

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Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Avoid the decrease of the N value by fiber manipulation
Preparing for fiber manipulation and fusion splicing and storage:

Very clean environment and clean and calibrated tools!

No (sharp) particles may be picked up by the fiber in the process
rests of silica during the cleaving process (sharp particles)
rests of the primary coating stripping
normal dust

Do not pull on the fiber more than the time and force needed for stripping
fiber specs

Use well specified splice protectors (many reports about the reliability available)
Look at the fiber curl by inserting fibers in the fusion splicer
Finishing with fibers that can set free in their splice organizers.

Ref: Suggested guidelines for the handling of optical fiber

http://www.corning.com/docs/opticalfiber/wp3627_12-01.pdf
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Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

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Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

Conclusion: Antares deals all the way trough with a harsh environment.
Many constructive sites where different people with different interests
manipulate the fibers in difficult circumstances!
At board level the pigtail extensions and tests.
At the cylinder integration the routing of the fibers.
At the line integration the interconnections.
The deployment
(temperature on deck of the ship to the mechanical stress by launching the line)

The vertical cable (EMC) which is always slowly moving

The dredge up of the line (does the line twist a bit? )
It wise to just follow and take it the Corning articles as granted?
Suggested guidelines for the handling of optical fiber
http://www.corning.com/docs/opticalfiber/wp3627_12-01.pdf
Setting Splice Specifications for. Single-Mode Fiber Cables
http://www.corning.com/docs/opticalfiber/wp7114_8-01.pdf

4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

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Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

9 mm
O 222 mm

Outer diameter 230 mm

Fiber in middle 226 mm
Inner diameter
222 mm
and two more curves

O 230 mm

stretched length 722 mm x 3 ~ 2167 mm

~ +37 mm
stretched length 710 mm x 3 ~ 2129 mm
~ - 38 mm
stretched length 697 mm x 3 ~ 2091 mm

Fibers must really move free!

4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

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Fiber integration and manipulation at all stages in Antares

4 April 2005@pi.INFN.it

Jelle Hogenbirk jelle@nikhef.nl

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