RELIABILITY OF OPTICAL FIBRES : IMPACT ON CABLE DESIGN

K G Hodge, J R Vikon, N R Haiih, IG Knight

Existingcopper based communications cables have a history of SuCCeSsfUlly operating for up to 40 years or
more. They have outlived generations of transmission equipment and have Gamed greater volumes of data
traffic than they were originally designed to support. However, given the ever increasing requirements for
data transmission capacity this cable technology may soon prove to be inadequate. Optical cable based
systems, which are now extending into the local area network and finding broader applications in trunk
routes, offer a transmission medim to meet the needs of the future. Following on from the copper cable
experience, these optical fibre cables are expected to meet a demanding level of reliability. So, optical fibre
cables are designed to remain in continuous opetation, fault free barring accidental damage, lor a minimumof
25 years. This is a demanding reliability requirement for any product.
The object of this paper is to review the status of the main issues pertaining to the reliabiliy of optical fibre
cables and show how our increasing understanding of those issues is supporting the evolution of optical
cable designs.

Long haul telecom cable has been a relatively benign environment for optical fibres. Cable installation
practises coupled with the roduct's design philosophies have contributed to produce reliable solutions.
Recent studies from the US fi,2.3,84)
have revealed the main failure modes of installed cables to be :
cable dig up as the main cause of failure in buried cable
aerial cables show the same failure rate as buried cable
cable dig up remains a mapr cause of system unavailability
Evidence of spontaneous fibre fracture in cable attributable to fibre fatigue and corrosion is negligible.
These conclusions are testament to the effectivenessof the cable engineers building in reliability into their
products.
This paper considers the issues addressed by the cable engineer and shows how cable designs are
evolving with maturing fibre optic technology.

The optical fibre itsell is, by definition, the principal reliability critical item in the cable design, the major failure
modes, effects and causes associatedwith this component are shown in the following table :

The following section summarises how each of these fibre failure modes arises.
 Conventionally adopted theory suggests that 3 elements are required to initiate fatigue in glass : a pre-
existing flaw, an applied stress and a polar molecule, the rate of growth of the existing flaw being govemed
by the applied stress level. In analysis of accumulated strength test data many researchers have found the
relationship between time to failure and stress level has shown good agreement with a simple power law
m~del(~~ The ~ ~ ) , .in the expression is known as the 'stress corrosion susceptibility factor', or
~ ~exponent
'fatigue factor' or 'n' value. This value is a principal factor in lifetime predidin.
Zero stress ageing' of glass fibres is also a subject of major study at present, i.e. strength reduction in the
absence of an applied stress. Most work has been carried out on short lengths of fibrec9). Microscopic
. examination of aged glass has revealed a surface deterioration characterised by an increased roughness,
which, directly relates to an associated strength degradation.
Comparatively, studies on abraded glass fibre has shown indications of an increase in 'n' value, i.e. an
improved fatigue behaviour, which has been explained as a phenomena of crack tip rounding in the large
flaws reducing the stress concentrated at the tip hence reducing the rate of crack growth(10). Proponents of
these studies conflict in the interpretation of the reWltS, maintains that the large flaws are of principal
concern as they represent the weak link in the fibre length, the other(lo) suggesting that the ageing
response of the high strength region dominates equations.
The results from these ongoing investigations into the response of fibre to fatigue are that the larger flaws
are blunting and the 'pristine' fibre is roughening with time. Different camps support lifetime predictions
modified to take account of the response of pristine fibre or large flaws, each approach has its relative merits
in connection with the end use of the fibre.
The fatigue of 'fatigue resistant' fibres inVOlVeS a more complex analysis of the flaw growth at the fibre
surface. Higher 'n' values appear undisputed although this is achieved at the expense of the intrinsic
strength of the fibre. This characteristic has lead to some perceptions of Yatigue resistant' fibre being weaker
than standard fibre. True, but it lasts longer.

Hermetic coated fibres exhibit extremely high 'n' values. The mechanism of fatigue is not yet fully
understood and lifetime prediction investigations are presently centred on the expected integrity of the
hermetic layer(1161*).

Hvdroaen
It is well known that there are two modes in which Hydrogen can impair the optical transmittance of optical
fibre and several good review papers exist'"]. Firstly, molecular hydrogen can permeate into the silica
leading to IR absorption at 2.42pm, and at its first overtone at 1.24pm. Both the 1.31pm and the 1 . 5 4 1 ~ 1
transmission windows can be affected by the flanks of these absorption peaks. The actual attenuation
increase is dependent on the hydrogen pressure, and a saturation level is reached after about 500 hours
exposure. The attenuation saturation level is found to decrease with increasing temperature. On removal of
the hydrogen the attenuation reduces to its original level, hence this effect is sometimes termed the
reversible effect.

A permanent attenuation increase results from OH- ions reacting with germanium and phosphorus dopants
within the fibre. In this case the loss is manifested as a growth in the already existent OH absorption peak at
about 1.4pm (Ge-OH), and an increase at about 1.6pm (P-OH). The rate of growth is proportional to the
square root of the hydrogen pressure, and is a logarithmic function of time. In this case the loss increases
with temperature. Modern single mode fibres use no phosphorus dopants and all published estimates
suggest that the permanent loss resulting will be much smaller than the interstitial loss, even after 25 years.
The reverse is true for multimode fibres which generally have a higher level of dopant concentrations.
It is intuitivelyobvious that for hydrogen concentration to build up in the vicinity of cabled fibres there has to
be some local generator of hydrogen and some means of containing it in the cable. The fibre itsell is a very
minor source of hydrogen, but other cable constituents may not be. This has long been realised in
submarine cable design, with the result that the fibres are Often housed in a hermetic metal tube which
prevents ingress by hydrogen generated from extemal metallic elements due to corrosion by sea water.
More recently efforts have been made to substitute the hermetic metal tube with hermetic carbon coatings
on the fibres themselves. These coatings are -50nm thick and have the dual advantages of offering
enhanced mechanical fatigue resistance and vastly reduced hydrogen permeability. One disadvantage is
 that fusion splicing of such fibre is slightly more difficutt than it is for conventional fibre. The fibre is also
significantly more expensive, effectively ruling out its use in terrestrial applications.

Many conventiona! optical cables use a central steel strength member which may also corrode with time thus
generating hydrogen. There have been instances when a peripheral metallic water barrier applied to the
cable has prevented hydrogen from escaping, allowing it to build up to levels sufficient to cause measurable
losses. The use of non-galvanised steel wire reduces this risk. In some countries the use of a hydrogen
scavenging material in the interstices of the cable has proved popular. The absorbing capacity and bngevity
of such materials is not well known.
Non-metallic cable designs, using only polymeric materials also generate hydrogen during their natural
. decomposition process. However, the quantity of hydrogen produced and its retention in the structure is
very small compared to that emanating from metals, and consequently associated optical losses are
undetectable.

Changes in properties of the fibre coating can give rise to localised coating delamination resulting in
significant microbending losses. It is thus important that the characteristics of fibre coatings and their
adhesion to the glass surfaces does not change as a result of ageing, contact with other materials, such as
tube filling gel, or materials from the environment in which the cable is installed, such as water, cleaning fluids
or fuels. These concerns are reflected in specifications addressing issues of mutual compatibility of cable
materials and the exposure to water of optical fibres singly or as ribbons.

Bend
Another significant loss mechanism for optical fibre cables is associated with the fact that the optical signal
propagating in the fibre can be attenuated whenever the fibre encounters bends whose radius of curvature
is below a critical value. These bending losses can be classified in terms of micro-bendingor macro-bending,
depending upon the nature of the bend imposed upon the fibre. Macro-bending losses arise whenever the
fibre axis is bent by radii of the order of millimetres of more; the attenuation will be localised at the bend and
will usually increase dramatically with increasing source wavelength. This type of loss impacts the upper
transmission window (1550 nm) only and is often introduced by fibre handling upon installation. Macro-
bending losses are therefore normally detected directly after installation and cable jointing.
Micro-bending losses arise whenever the fibre axis is subjected to small, quasi-periodic perturbations (of the
order of tens of microns), and for the attenuation to be significant, the micro-bending mechanism would
normally need to be distributed throughout several kilometres of the fibre length. Micro-bending losses
normally increase slowly with increasing source wavelength, and consequently cable failures caused in this
way usually impact both transmission windows. This type of loss is related to the design of the optical fibre
cable and choice of fibrelcable materials, and may only arise several years after installationand exposure to
harsh environmental conditions.

Radiation
Some special applications of fibre optic systems require that fibre be able to operate in environments where it
is subjected to exposure to significant quantities of radiation. Examples of such applications might be found
near nuclear reactors, in outer space, or in areas unlucky enough to be targeted by nuclear weapons.
Studies have shown that radiation can cause damage to optical fibres (I8).
Despite extensive testing no single fibre radiation response model seems to explain the observed effects,
because of the variety of phenomena investigated, for example: loss vs dose, loss vs temperature, recovery
rate etc. The type of radiation and construction of the fibres are other variables. in general however, it is
observed that the fibre will quickly attain a peak attenuation following exposure to radiation (during a burst of
radiation the fibre may luminesce, giving off light), and will then slowly recover to a permanent level of
attenuation somewhat higher than the original level. There is some evidence that pure silica-cored fibres will
exhibit the lowest attenuation increases. and also that photobleaching (removal of radiation-induced loss by
illumination with high levels of light of a specifc wavelength) is most successfulwith this type of core.
Some special fibres are available which offer improved resistance to radiation damage, but short of using
these expensive options, the best advice that can be offeredto the user is to avoid installing cables in areas
of potentialrisk of exposure to high energy radiation.

1/3
The previous section has described briefly the main lailure modes of optical fibres. It is worth considering
how our increased. knowledge of these failure modes is now leading to changes in the ways in which we
design cables. In most applications the mechanisms of hydrogen generation and radiation have always been
of minor concern and so attention has turned to the mechanical packaging of the fibres to avoid excessive
stresses, and it is this which is discussed below.

One cable design concept which allows the 'zero fibre strain' philosophy to be followed is the loose tube
cable. In 'loose tube' optical cables the fibres are encbsed within gel filled tubes which are sfranded around
a central element. Sufficient strength is built into the cable to meet the maximumtensile bad levels whilst not
transmitting strain to the fibre, hence avoiding fibre fracture and failure due to bend. The cable's 'strain
window' is also chosen so that thermally induced longitudinal cable strain is not transmitted to the fibres.
During changes in longitudinal cable strain or cable bending, the fibres must be free to move through the
gel. Thus the viscosity of the gel, as measured by parameters such as yield stress must be significantly b w
even at the b e s t operating temperatures of the cable to permit such movement at low applied stress levels.
Conversely, the viscosity 01 the gel at the upper maximum temperatures experienced by the cable must be
sufficiently high to prevent seepage from the tube. Gels must thus be formulated to meet a balance of
requirements.
The effects of longitudinal stress on fibres contained within loose tube type cables are shown in Fig 2 :
Fig 2 : Graphical Representation of the mechanical response of loose tube cable designs

strain
Y
Cable strain
c
compressive strain
margin

Strain window

The traditional loose tube approach to optical cable design has proved successful for a number of years, and
was an appropriate concept for introducing fibre into the communication network. The original uncertainty of
the fibres' mechanical reliability drove cablers to provide a 'strain window' in designs to assure product
reliability. Also, alternative cable installation techniques to reduce tensile stresses and speed installation
have been developed (eg. blown fibre and blown cable).

Fibre manufacturing techniques have improved immeasurably since the technology was introduced,
industry's understanding of the mechanics of failure of the glass has advanced considerably, and test
techniques too have progressed. This, along with the demonstrable reliability of previously installed product
has made the case for stressing fibres to controlled levels whilst still assuring their reliability in cable.
Many papers have been published on suitable reliability models for use in justifying levels 01 fibre strain
considered allowable based on a wide range of advanced test techniques and theory. There are several
Fibre type and 'n' value Stress duratlon as percentage of proof screen level
Short term (e9 installation) ILong term
All silica, n=20
, 35 I20

-F A
-c
v)

E?
a
ii
b
Region of fibre
buckling TI Cable bad or
increasing
incraarinn
temperature

I Strain window
I
Just as the focus of the designer looking at cable reliability has shifted from one potential failure mode to
another, so too has the user's focus on the reliability of his system. With the greater penetration of fibre into
the access network the reliability of new components and devices is coming under scrutiny. Indeed, past
experience suggests that the cable has been intrinsically one of the most reliable system components. A
critical paR of the local network is comprised of the access points. which although containing only a fraction of
the total fibre in the network, is the area in which most breakages have been seen.
This may be understood by examining the stress history of fibre in this region and the environment it is
installed in. For instance, in splice cassettes in the field, fibres which have experienced the full range of
strains imposed by the cable installation are then handled, stripped of coating, cleaned, fused, and left in
comparatively high bending stress situations. The fibre may then suffer extremes in environmental
conditions associated with the Closure installation (eg pedestals) which can be significantly in excess of that
experienced by the installed cable length. The stress history is further complicated if the fibre is handled
 again when re-entering a closure. If lifetime predictions were not already complex enough the action of
stripping the fibre and any other operation on the stripped fibre further reduces its strength. Indicative of the
importance of this aspect of the topic Bellcore have directed the bulk of their reliability research efforts into
this region of fibre deployment.

The success story that is the reliability of the optical fibre cabling installed base has generated the necessary
confidence in the technology to help support its more ubiquitous deployment. The careful, conservative
approach adopted by cablers has helped support this technology through its infancy. Advances made in
understanding the reliability issues associated with the fibre itself, particularly mechanical issues, has
. resulted in evolutionary designs of optical cables. The reliability of these newer designs depends on the
cablers understanding the implications of shiftingthe emphasis from the issue of the mechanical reliability of
the fibre to addressing other, previously perhaps treated as secondary, failure modes. Examples of the
confidence in the industry in addressing these issues is Shown in the many examples of new cable families
proliferatingat present.

Acknowledaements
Thanks to the Directors of BlCC plc for agreeing to release this work.

References
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the Nation"
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1580 (1991)
4) -
J P Kilmer et al, "Optical cable reliability lessons learned from post-mortemanalyses" p85-91 SPlE
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Optical Engineering vol. 30,110.6. June 1991
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10) G S Glaesemann, "The mechanicalbehaviour of large flaws in optical fibre and their role in retiability
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733, J. Lightwave Tech., LES,5, May 1987
12) Friebele, E.J.. "Optical Fiber Waveguides in Radiation Environments", p 552-561, Optical
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0 1994The Institution of ElectricalEngineers.

Printed and published by the IEE. Savoy Place, LondonWCPR OBL, UK.

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