Strength of fiber optical waveguides

Optical waveguides must withstand tensile stresses over kilometers of length where one flaw can be fatal. The strength of long lengths has not been previously studied but this paper presents a few preliminary data and compares them with the more abundant data on short lengths. Weibull statistics provide the logical basis for this comparison. The same Weibull constants adequately describe the long-length data and the low-strength portion of the short-length data. Flaws in 10–100 km lengths, therefore, seem to be of the same class as those found in relatively short gage lengths.