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In this interview, Jason Fant, Global Marketing Manager, Zeus Industrial Products, Inc., and Matthew Davis, Principal Research Engineer, Luna Innovations, discuss with AZoM the use of heat-set coated PEEK fibers.
Headquarters of Zeus Industrial Products, Inc. located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, USA. Its core business is the development and precision extrusion of advanced polymeric materials. The company employs 1,300 people worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in Aiken, Gaston and Orangeburg, South Carolina, Branchburg, New Jersey and Letterkenny, Ireland. Zeus products and services serve companies in the medical, automotive, aerospace, fiber, energy and fluids markets.
Based on the customer’s requirement, we decided to use extruded PEEK as fiber optic coating. PEEK’s strength-to-weight ratio, high operating temperature, and radiation resistance make it an interesting material for sensor applications in harsh environments such as energy, aerospace, and automotive. Applications that benefit from PEEK include the protection of embedded sensors for structural monitoring or composite components for the aerospace industry. The improved wear resistance and load transfer capability also make it an attractive product for downhole or subsea sounding applications.
Key benefits of PEEK include its biocompatibility, superior purity, and resistance to ethylene oxide, gamma radiation, and autoclaving. PEEK’s ability to withstand repeated bending and abrasion makes it an interesting choice for surgical robotics. Thinking about PEEK as a coating for fiber optics, we found that this material reduces repositioning and increases service life, while still allowing deformation, vibration, pressure and other environmental factors to be perceived and transmitted.
PEEK exhibits compressive strength and instability with temperature fluctuations, which can lead to failure. Problems can arise when working with fibers containing gratings. We found that in the Bragg performance of the fiber, compression causes peak distortion.
Our goal at Zeus is to provide a PEEK coated fiber that is stable under extreme temperature fluctuations, allowing the fiber to retain the benefits of the PEEK coating over temperature fluctuations and protecting the fiber from compression due to attenuation.
Luna’s OBR 4600 is the industry’s first zero-dead-zone ultra-high-resolution reflectometer with Rayleigh backscatter sensitivity for fiber optic components or systems. OBR uses swept wavelength coherent interferometry to measure tiny reflections in an optical system as a function of its length. This method measures the full scale response of the device, including phase and amplitude. It is then presented graphically, providing users with unparalleled ability to test and diagnose components or networks.
One of the advantages of using OBR is the ability to measure the evolution of the polarization state along the fiber, which gives an idea of ​​distributed birefringence. In this case, we measured and compared the polarization state of the PEEK-coated fiber and the reference fiber. The evolution of the polarization state of the OBR receiver with fiber length looks like we would expect for a folded fiber section, where the period of the S and P states at the edge is on the order of a few meters. is consistent with the length of the birefringence beats caused by fiber twisting. When considering the differences between the reference and PEEK, no inconsistencies are observed, suggesting that there is minimal permanent deformation during the coating process that affects the optical properties.
The average change in attenuation of the PEEK-coated fiber during temperature cycling was less than 0.02 decibels (dB) compared to the control fiber. This change indicates that PEEK stability is not significantly affected by temperature cycling or thermal shock. It was also observed that the loss of the PEEK coated fiber was significantly lower than that of the control fiber at the narrowest bend radius.
The fiber primary coating must withstand our proprietary process. Feasibility can be determined to a large extent by reviewing fiber data sheets and confirming process capability through short-term proof testing. This is also influenced by the desired properties of the final product.
We ran a kilometer of links. However, the quality of the fiber, the characteristics of the final product and many other parameters can determine the actual continuous length we can get. This will be something we will have to decide again on a case by case basis.
PEEK cannot be easily separated by hand. It can be effectively removed by thermal or chemical means. There are some commercial strippers that can remove PEEK, but you should check with the manufacturer about how this affects the number of uses between cleans and other usage-related parameters. PEEK can be chemically removed using methods similar to those commonly used for polyimides.
In our experience, we have not seen any correlation between the thickness and characteristics of the actual fiber itself.
Optical time-domain reflectometers obtain information about the reflection distance by sending out short pulses of light and recording the time it takes for the reflected light to return. A particularly bright reflection blinds the receiver for a short time, making it impossible to observe the second reflection peak in the “dead zone” behind the first reflection peak.
OBR is based on optical frequency domain reflectometry. It scans the tunable laser over a wide range of optical frequencies, interferes with a local copy of the laser beam returning from the test device, records the resulting fringes, and calculates the distance to a particular reflection event based on the frequency of the interference. This process effectively separates light reflected from adjacent points along the fiber without any “dead zone” problems.
Distance accuracy is related to the accuracy of the tunable lasers we use to scan wavelengths for measurements. The laser is calibrated with a NIST certified internal gas absorption cell to calibrate the wavelength on every scan. Precise knowledge of the optical frequency range for laser scanning leads to precise knowledge of distance scaling. This allows OBR to provide the highest spatial resolution and accuracy of commercial OTDRs on the market today.
Visit zeusinc.com to learn more about PEEK Coated Heat Stabilized Optical Fiber, including test studies and technical information, or contact Jason Fant, Global Marketing Manager, Optical Fiber, at [email protected]
Visit Lunainc.com to learn more about fiber test equipment or contact Matthew Davis, Principal Research Engineer at [email protected].
He is responsible for market and business development in the fiber optic industry. A Six Sigma Green Belt holder, Funt is IAPD certified and a member of SPIE.
Experts in implementing fiber optic sensor technology in harsh environments such as gas turbine engines, wind tunnels and nuclear reactors.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the views of AZoM.com Limited (T/A) AZoNetwork, the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer is part of the terms of use of this website.
Originally from Ireland, Michealla graduated from Northumbria University in Newcastle with a BA in English Literature and Journalism. She moved to Manchester after a year of travel in Asia and Australia. In her spare time, Michella spends time with family and friends, hiking, going to the gym/yoga and immersing herself in the latest Netflix series like no other.
Zeus Industrial Products Inc. (2019, January 22). Use PEEK coatings for optical fibers. AZ. Retrieved November 17, 2022 from https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=13764.
Zeus Industrial Products, Inc. “The Use of PEEK Coatings for Optical Fibers”. AZ. November 17, 2022 . November 17, 2022 .
Zeus Industrial Products, Inc. “The Use of PEEK Coatings for Optical Fibers”. AZ. https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=13764. (As of November 17, 2022).
Zeus Industrial Products, Inc. 2019. Use PEEK Coatings for Optical Fibers. AZoM, accessed 17 November 2022, https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=13764.
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