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EuroWire – November 2008 73
technical article
Draka Comteq
2512 Penny Road
NC 28610 Claremont USA
Fax: +1 8224 599312
Website:
Draka Comteq France SA
ZI Artois Flandres– Zone C
Billy Berclau
62092 Haisnes Cedex France
Fax: +33 32179 4919
Email:
3.3 Coloured secondary
The secondary coating for the optimised
system has been reformulated for
improved brightness and visibility in all
lighting.
The colours are in agreement with Munsell
standards for optical fibre colour-coding
and are easily distinguished against both
light and dark backgrounds.
The enhancements to the colouring
required increasing the concentration
of the pigment systems in this new
secondary, as well as improvement in the
curing package provided.
The coating features a surface that
provides an excellent interface with ribbon
matrix material, so that the matrix easily
separates from the coloured fibre but
without sacrificing robustness.
The mechanical properties of the coloured
secondary are balanced with those of the
primary coating so that in heat stripping,
the coating/matrix composite separates
cleanly from the glass fibres, Figure 6.
4 Conclusions
An improved single mode fibre dual
coating system has been developed,
optimised for applications in FTTx.
The new system features a softer primary
coating with excellent low-temperature
characteristics to protect against micro-
bending in any environment and in the
toughest physical situations.
A new coloured secondary with enhanced
colour strength and vividness is paired
with the primary coating.
The secondary provides improved ribbon
characteristics for structures that are
robust, yet easily entered.
The dual coating is also specifically
balanced for superior heat stripping
in ribbon, with virtually no residue left
behind on the glass, to facilitate fast
splicing and terminations.
The improvements in the coating
system offer significant advantages for
deployment in any FTTx system design. n
5 References
[1] P Lesueur, G Le Noane, J C Darocha, C Leplé,
A Poulain, ‘Permanent Access Cables for Low Cost
FTTH Deployment’, Proceedings of the 55th IWCS,
p1 (2006)
[2] O Tatat, reference on FlexTube
[3] P Barker, D Faulkner, P Hale, P Longhurst,
S Marsden, A Mayhew, N Rabone, ‘FTTP
Infrastructure: Tailoring for a Gradual Uptake’,
Proceedings of the 55th IWCS, p 24 (2006)
[4] A Björk, M Björs, P Lo Curzio, B McGavin, ‘A Novel
Aerial Air-Blown Solution for FTTH Networks
Using Pre-Terminated Fibre and Micro Cables’,
Proceedings of the 55th IWCS, p35 (2006)
[5] L-A de Montmorillon, ‘Bend-Optimised G.652D
Compatible Trench-Assisted Single Mode Fibers’,
Proceedings of the 55th IWCS, p 342 (2006)
[6] C R Taylor, Meeting Digest of OFC, p 20, Optical
Society of America, 1985
[7] IEC 6221, TR3, Method B, ‘Micro-bending
Sensitivity by Fixed Diameter Drum’
[8] B J Overton, C R Taylor, A J Muller, ‘The Effects of
Cure Temperature on the Thermomechanical
Properties of UV Curable Coatings’, Polymer
Science and Engineering, p 1165, Vol 29, 1989
[9] I V Khudyakov, T G Gantt, M B Purvis, B J Overton,
‘New Developments in UV Curable Urethane
Acrylate Coatings’, RadTech 2004
[10] I V Khudyakov, M B Purvis, B J Overton, ‘Kinetic
Study of Coatings for Optical Fibre for A Fast UV
Cure’, RadTech 2002
Figure 6 ▲ ▲ :Ribbon stripping demonstration with optimised coating system (bottom) contrasted with typical
commercial coating system in ribbon