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While delayed fracture, or static fatigue, of optical fibers is well known, it is not well understood, and the prediction of the time to failure under a given set of conditions can be problematic. Unlike short term fracture, which is quite well understood and quantified in terms of the theory of linear elastic fracture mechanics, the long term strength remains empirical. The goal of this study is to determine the design criteria for optical fibers subjected to long term applied mechanical loads. One difficulty in making lifetime predictions, as pointed out by Matthewson (Reference 1) and others, is that predictions made from data taken in tension and in bending do not agree. Another difficulty is the statistical nature of the fracture of glass. In making lifetime predictions it becomes important therefore that one (a) have ample data for statistical analysis and (b) have data for the loading configuration of interest. This is the purpose of our work. Since there is less data available in bending, and since several applications (such as wiring in aircraft and missiles) require bending, the data are taken in that configuration. The most significant finding in our work so far is the very large difference in static fatigue behavior between buffer coatings. Chandan and Kalish (Reference 2) and others have reported static fatigue curves, log (time to failure) versus log (applied stress), which are not linear, but rather bimodal. Our study confirms this result, but so far only for acrylate coated fibers. Silicone coated fibers show unimodal behavior. That is, the log (time to failure) versus log (applied stress) curve is linear, at least on the time scale studied so far. Data for acrylate coated fibers at 80°C in water are linear only for time scales of about one day, where a pronounced "knee" is observed. Data for silicone coated fibers under the same conditions are linear up to at least 6 months. Longer time scale tests and tests on fibers with other buffer materials are in progress.
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