WCA November 2016

Fibre strain: 0.235%

❍ ❍ Figure 1 : Tensile performance for the cable

❍ ❍ Figure 2 : The anchor clamp used to fix cable

❍ ❍ Figure 3 : The tensile limit test of the cable

The breakage appeared as the force increased to 2,300N, and this value far exceeded the users’ requirements. 4.2.2.2 Crush test In this test, the specified crush force was 500N, and the time for imposed pressure was 1 min. The result obtained for the 500N load is shown in Figure 4 , where there was almost no change for the attenuation during the test, even at the high load. The additional attenuation was reversible and there was no damage to the cable outer sheath.

After testing, all the attenuation values of the flat cable with two different structures were below the limits, that is, the attenuation of the flat cable was no more than 0.4dB/km at 1,310nm, and no more than 0.3dB/km at 1,550nm. 4.2.2 Mechanical property The following mechanical tests were carried out according the IEC 60794-1-2 and IEC 60794-1-22 standards in order to make sure that all the parameters were according to the specification and fully met the client’s requirements and needs. A main series of tensile and crush tests had been performed and the relevant results are listed in Figures 1 and 4 . 4.2.2.1 Tensile test The client’s requirements for tensile performance were a maximum fibre strain of 0.6 per cent and maximum attenuation increase of 0.1dB for a requested 1,350N load dwell for 1 min. Furthermore, there should be no damage to the cable’s outer sheath. The test result showed that the maximum fibre strain was 0.235 per cent, as shown in Figure 1 . In addition, it was also found that the maximum short term additional attenuation was only 0.005dB and the maximum residual additional attenuation was just 0.003dB. In carrying out the tensile limit test of the cable, a special anchor clamp to fix the cable, as shown in Figure 2 , was used. The cable was loaded on the tensile testing machine and force applied until breakage took place, as shown in Figure 3 .

❍ ❍ Figure 4 : Crush performance for the cable

CRUSH3

59

www.read-wca.com

Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2016