Study of Optical Fibre Cables Long-Term Operation at Elevated Temperatures

This paper focuses on research of newly designed radiation resistant optical fibre cables for application in harsh environments, where elevated temperatures are one of those. To make a conclusion whether it is possible to use these cables under elevated temperatures a series of experiments were held where performance (attenuation coefficient and Mandelstam-Brillouin scattering) of the cables and optical fibre were measured before, during and after the tests – accelerated aging and non-accelerated aging. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and IR-spectroscopy of polymer coatings of optical fibre and optical fibre cables were held before and after the exposure of the samples to elevated temperatures. Test results of accelerated and non-accelerated aging showed that accelerated aging does not fully represent behavior of polymer material under study. The results showed that designed specialty optical fibre cables are suitable to be used under elevated temperatures (100 °C and above) for more than 10 000 hours.