Humidity dependence of the fatigue of high-strength fused silica optical fibers

Strength and dynamic fatigue behavior of silica fibers has been measured as a function of ambient humidity. Bare and polymer-coated fibers were compared to determine the influence of the coating, The results verify earlier work that suggests the degradation reaction is approximately second order with respect to humidity. However, we verify this result using rigorous data analysis techniques and, unlike the earlier work, the result is shown to be independent of the form of the kinetic model for crack growth. Trends in the calculated fatigue parameters illustrate that a simple exponential crack growth law best describes the humidity data. No significant differences were found between coated and bare fibers, provided the coated fibers were properly equilibrated. A data analysis methodology is given for obtaining valid reaction orders independently of the crack growth law form.