Performance of a Totally Dry Gel-Free Stranded Loose Tube Cable Design

摘要

A gel-free stranded loose tube cable has been developed where the gel inside the buffer tubes has been eliminated through the application of super absorbent polymer technology. Internal and external handling evaluations demonstrated that the gel-free design was easier to work with than gel-filled designs and provided a time saving of one to two minutes per buffer tube during cable end preparation. Extensive characterization testing was undertaken to validate performance against industry standard requirements. In addition, a number of nonstandard laboratory and field installation tests were conducted to investigate issues such as aging and extreme handling conditions. In all cases, the testing revealed no performance concerns. Gel-free loose tube is a robust product suitable for deployment in any installation currently employing gel-filled loose tube designs.