SIMULATION OF HIGH STRAIN RATES FOR OPTICAL FIBER

ESSENTIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF FIBER OPTIC GUIDED MISSILE SYSTEMS IS THE LONG TERM RELIABILITY AND COST OF THE FIBER OPTIC DISPENSER. AN ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE STRESS STATES THAT OCCUR DURING WINDING, STORAGE AND PAYOUT IS ESSENTIAL TO OPTIMIZATION. THE ADHESIVE EXPERIENCES EXTREMELY HIGH STRAIN RATES DURING PAYOUT, AND THE BEHAVIOR OF EXISTING ADHESIVES UNDER THESE STRAIN RATES IS NOT KNOWN. FURTHERMORE, AT PRESENT WE CANNOT SPECIFY THE DESIRED HIGH STRAIN RATE ADHESIVE TO MINIMIZE FIBER BENDING STRESS DURING PAYOUT. THE FOCUS IS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COST-EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR OBTAINING THE NECESSARY HIGH STRAIN RATE DATA AND THE GENERATION OF PAYOUT MODELS NECESSARY TO PERFORM OPTIMIZATION. PRIMARY EMPHASIS IS ON THE ADHESIVE RUPTURE CHARACTERISTICS AND FIBER PEEL POINT DYNAMICS DURING PAYOUT TO OBTAIN AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF ADHESIVE FORCE DISTRIBUTION AT THE PEEL POINT, WHICH WILL ALLOW A MORE ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE STRESS STATE OF THE FIBER DURING PAYOUT, SINCE THIS CONCERN REPRESENTS ONE OF THE MAJOR DIFFICULTIES IN THE FOG-V TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. THE MRC TEAM PERCEIVES THIS TO BE THE MOST PROMISING APPROACH TO OBTAINING THE NEEDED UNDERSTANDING OF THE ADHESIVE AND FIBER DURING PAYOUT IN THE MOST EXPEDIENT TIME FRAME POSSIBLE. THE ANALYSIS, MODELING AND TESTING PROPOSED WILL RESULT IN A GREAT IMPROVEMENT OVER EXISTING MODELS AND WILL PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR IMPROVED SPECIFICATIONS FOR FIBER, ADHESIVE AND BUFFER MATERIALS. THIS WILL ALSO ALLOW FIBER COST REDUCTION BY ADJUSTING THE FIBER PROOF TEST REQUIREMENTS TO THE PREDICTED PEEL POINT STRESS, ULTIMATELY LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPTIMIZED BUFFER COATINGS AND ADHESIVES.