Mechanical reliability of silica optical fibers

Dynamic and static mechanical tests were implemented using a tensile test bench and a static fatigue test under uniform curve. The incidence of aging treatments at 65 and 85 °C was investigated on two standard silica optical fibers (with polyacrylate and fluorinated coatings). Microscopic observations helped the understanding of the failure mechanism. It appears that the cyclic variations of the failure stress phenomenon, with respect to the aging time, are the result of the silicate gel which migrates towards the polymer coating.