Mechanical and structural changes in multimode optical fibers induced by aging in harsh gaseous and liquid reagents

The increased optical fiber development for a variety of physical and chemical measurements using smart structures and sensors leads to investigate the mechanical and chemical reliability of standard commercial acrylate polymer coated fibers. Multimode optical fiber was subjected to aggressive chemical reagents in gaseous and liquid phase, such as acetylene, ammonia, dimethyl-sulfoxide for different durations after prior vacuum exposure. Tensile testing results were treated using Weibull statistic. A comparison of mean failure strengths of aged fibers for similar exposure duration has revealed the highest sensitivity to acetylene and dimethyl-sulfoxide reagents. Based on analysis of aged fiber surface morphology obtained from Scanning Electron Microscopy, we can deduce the damage extent and the consequence on the structure of the fiber in contact with these harsh environments.