Dynamic Friction Property and Mechanism of Line-Type Thermoplastic Polymer Materials for New Optical Wiring Technology

We have been developing a new optical wiring technology for installing indoor optical fiber cables directly into apartment houses for fiber to the home. The technology must minimize the friction of optical fiber cable. We reviewed many studies on friction behavior, and studied the friction properties of a wide variety of polymer sheets and optical fiber cables, and considered the friction mechanism. Relatively, soft polymer materials exhibited stick-slip behavior and the hard polymers exhibited constant slip behavior. Lubricants are effective in reducing friction and play a dominant role as regards the friction property. Silicon and fluorocarbon agents play some role in converting the stick-slip characteristic into constant slip behavior. A certain roughness is effective in reducing friction. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers.