Experimental Correlation of the Aging Process of the ADSS Fiber-Optic Cables in ASU's Environmental Chamber to Field Tests in Bandon, OR

An environmental chamber has been constructed at Arizona State University to establish a long-term aging test of all-dielectric self-supporting (ADSS) fiber-optic cable. A polymer-jacketed ADSS (track resistant) cable is subjected to UV radiation, salt fog, clean rain, and mechanical tension in the aging chamber. Installed by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a similar track resistant ADSS has been in operation for about eight years, near the Pacific Ocean at Bandon, OR. Accumulated pollution on this ADSS has been measured by BPA on approximately a semiannual basis. In this paper, the aging chamber operation is outlined briefly and two methods of measuring the accumulating pollution level on the ADSS cables in the aging chamber are described. The accumulated pollution levels of both ADSS cables in the chamber and in Bandon, OR, are compared. It is noted that general chamber performance compares favorably to the field data as well as suggesting an approximate chamber-aging rate, about 18:1.