Thermal stresses in double-coated optical fibers at low temperature

Abstract

The thermal stresses in double-coated optical fibers at low temperature have been analyzed. The lateral pressure and normal stresses in the glass fiber, primary coating, and secondary coating have been derived. The thermal stresses in the optical fiber are affected by the temperature drop, material properties of the primary and secondary coatings, and their thickness. It is possible to select a suitably polymeric coating to produce minimum lateral pressure in the glass fiber. In order to minimize the thermally induced bending loss, it was found that if the thickness of the polymeric coatings increases, the Young's modulus of primary coating should increase, but the Young's modulus of the secondary coating should decrease.