MECHANICAL STRIPPING OF LIGHTGUIDE COATINGS: COATING MORPHOLOGY

摘要

Polymer coatings are critical to the satisfactory operation, handling and deployment of lightguidernfibers and cables. Adhesion of the coating to the fiber is necessary for the mechanical andrnchemical protection to be sustained and toughness of the polymer is desired for robustness.rnHowever, it is also desirable that the coatings be simply, easily and cleanly removable in the field.rnThis field removal is most often accomplished by means of a mechanical stripping tool. Whilernsuch tools are simple to use, they obviously can mechanically damage the fiber and weaken itrnconsiderably. In this paper, we present an overview of our current understanding of thernmechanical stripping behavior of optical fibers and illustrate common features in the strippingrnperformance of different coatings.