Tightness Estimation of Fiber Ribbons in a Slot-Type Singlemode Optical-Fiber Cable

Tightness of fiber ribbons in a slot-type cable is estimated by measuring temperature dependence of fiber strain due to temperature change for free fiber ribbons and those assembled in the cable. Fiber-strain measurements were carried out by means of an optical heterodyne detection technique for free nylon-jacketed and LCP-jack-eted fiber-ribbons, and for the cabled fiber ribbons. By making a comparison between thermal behavior of fiber strain for the both states of jacketed fibers, it is clearly understood that the fiber ribbons are tightly accommodated in the slot-type cable in temperature regions over -15°C for nylon-jacketed fiber ribbons and 0°C for LCP-jacketed fiber ribbons under additional fiber-strain value of 0.015 percent through the cabling process. The fiber ribbons, which are tightly accommodated with suitable tension level through the process at room temperature, show reasonable thermal-strain behavior in comparison with the initially introduced fiber strain during the cabling process.