Choosing the outer sheath material for a fiber optic cable involves considering several factors related to the cable's application, environment, and performance requirements. Here are some key considerations to help you select the appropriate outer sheath material for fiber optic cables:
Environmental Conditions: Assess the conditions where the cable will be installed. Consider factors such as temperature range, exposure to moisture, chemicals, UV light, abrasion, and other potential hazards.
Mechanical Protection: Determine the level of mechanical protection required. If the cable will be installed in rugged environments or areas prone to physical damage, you'll need a sheath material that offers high resistance to abrasion and impact.
Fire and Flame Resistance: Some applications, particularly those in industrial or high-risk environments, may require cables with flame-retardant or fire-resistant outer sheaths to comply with safety regulations.
Flexibility and Bend Radius: For installations where the cable may need to bend or flex, choosing a sheath material that offers flexibility without compromising the cable's performance is crucial.
Chemical Resistance: Evaluate whether the cable will be exposed to chemicals or corrosive substances. Select a sheath material that can resist these substances to maintain cable integrity.
UV Resistance: If the cable will be exposed to sunlight or outdoor conditions, UV-resistant materials will prevent degradation over time due to prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays.
Cost Considerations: Balance performance requirements with cost constraints. Some specialized materials may offer superior properties but come at a higher cost.
Compliance and Standards: Ensure that the selected sheath material complies with industry standards and regulations for the intended application.
Common materials used for outer sheaths in fiber optic cables include:How To Choose fiber optic cable outer sheath material?
1 PVC
2 PE
3 LSZH
4 AT
5 Anti-Rodent
6 Anti-Flame
PVC
PVC is the most widely used fiber optic cable outer sheath material. It has good performances, good chemical resistance and weathering resistance, low cost, low flammability, and can meet the requirements of general occasions. However, the PVC sheathed optical cable will produce dense smoke when burned, which is not environmentally friendly.
PE
Polyethylene sheath materials is odorless, non-toxic, feels like wax. It has excellent low temperature resistance (the lowest temperature can reach -100~-70°C), good chemical stability, and can withstand most acids and alkalis (not resistant to oxidation) Nature of acid). It is insoluble in general solvents at room temperature, has low water absorption and excellent electrical insulation.
Because of the low density, good air permeability, excellent insulation and UV resistance of PE fiber cable outer sheath, it is often used in outdoor environments. Based on the density of the PE fiber cable outer sheath, there are also MDPE (middle density) and HDPE (high density).
LSZH
LSZH (low smoke zero halogen) is a flame-retardant sheath material filled with inorganic fillers (aluminum hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide). The LSZH sheathed fiber optic cable can not only dilute the concentration of combustible materials, but also absorb the heat generated by combustion, and at the same time generate a non-combustible oxygen barrier.
LSZH fiber optic cable has excellent flame retardant performance, little smoke during combustion, no toxic black smoke, no corrosive gas escape, good tensile strength, oil resistance and softness, excellent high pressure resistance, suitable for environment with flame retardant requirements and withstand voltage requirements. The disadvantage is that the LSZH sheath is easy to crack.
AT
The outer sheath of the optical cable of AT material can be obtained by adding additives to PE. This kind of sheath has good anti-tracking performance, so the optical cable usually used in the high voltage powerline environment needs the sheath of AT material.
Anti-Rodent
Another common optical cable sheathing material is an anti-rodent material, which is used for optical cables laid in tunnels and underground projects. The mechanism is divided into chemical protection and physical protection. Among them, physical protection is a more respectable method, and aramid yarn and metal armored materials can be used to prevent rodent biting.
Anti-Flame
When a fiber optic cable is used in mines or other safety prior environment, a good anti-flame characteristics of fiber optic cable is essential. Flame-retardant optical cable is a flame-retardant polyethylene sheath material instead of ordinary optical cable polyethylene sheath material, so that the optical cable has flame-retardant properties.