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Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-11-06 Origin: Site
Optical fiber splicing methods can mainly be classified according to their principles and degrees of automation. The following is a detailed introduction:
This is the most core classification method, mainly including two types:
This is currently the most mainstream and widely used optical fiber splicing technology.
Principle: By using the high-voltage arc of the optical fiber fusion splicer, a high temperature (approximately 2000°C) is generated between the end faces of two optical fibers, causing the end faces of the glass optical fibers to melt simultaneously. Then, under the precise push of the V-shaped groove, they are precisely aligned and fused together to form an integrated whole.
Process
1. Stripping: Remove the coating layer of the optical fiber.
2. Cleaning: Clean the bare fibers with high-purity alcohol.
3. Cutting: Use a fiber optic cutting knife to create a flat, vertical and smooth end face. This is the key step that determines the welding loss.
4. Placement: Place the two processed optical fibers into the V-shaped groove of the fusion splicer.
5. Welding: The welding machine automatically performs the process of alignment -> clean discharge (dust removal) -> pre-welding -> push for welding.
6. Protection: Use heat shrink tubing to protect the fusion joint.
Advantages
Low loss: The average welding loss can be as low as 0.02dB to 0.05dB.
High strength: The strength of the fusion joint is close to that of the optical fiber body.
Good reliability: Excellent long-term stability.
Fully automatic: Modern welding machines have a high degree of automation and are easy to operate.
Disadvantage
The equipment cost is relatively high.
Power support is required.
This method is mainly used in special circumstances, such as in environments where flammable and explosive gases may exist (like oil and gas fields, chemical plants), because electric arcs may cause danger.
Principle: Instead of using an electric arc, the optical fiber is melted through other heat sources. The most common one is flame welding.
Heat source: Use a hydrogen-oxygen flame or other special gas flame as the heat source.
Advantages
Explosion-proof safety: Suitable for hazardous environments.
No electricity required: It has an advantage in some wild areas where there is no electricity.
Disadvantage
High loss and instability: Greatly affected by airflow and operation skills, with poor consistency.
Low strength: The strength of the welding point is usually not as good as that of discharge welding.
High requirements for operators: It is highly dependent on the experience and skills of the operators.
Its application scope is narrow and it has gradually been replaced.
With the development of technology, discharge fusion splicers themselves have evolved into different levels of automation.
This is the absolute mainstream in current engineering.
Working mode: The fusion splicer is equipped with an internal camera and image processing system, automatically completing the alignment of optical fibers (including X/Y axis and Z-axis rotation), parameter setting, discharge fusion splicing and loss estimation.
Alignment method segmentation (this is the core difference within the fully automatic welding machine) :
Cladding alignment
Principle: Alignment is achieved by observing the outer layer of the optical fiber through a camera. It assumes that the core of the optical fiber is located at the center of the cladding.
Advantages: Low cost and fast speed.
Disadvantage: For optical fibers with large core/cladding concentricity errors (such as some multimode optical fibers), the splicing loss will be relatively high.
Application: Widely used in single-mode optical fiber and some multi-mode optical fiber scenarios with low requirements.
Core alignment
Principle: The fusion splicer directly observes and aligns the core of the optical fiber itself through a special optical system (such as side light emission) and algorithm.
Advantages: The lowest and most stable welding loss. It is not affected by the geometric dimension deviation of the optical fiber.
Disadvantages: The equipment is more expensive and the welding time is slightly longer.
Application: Long-distance trunk lines, FTTH first-level splitting points, data centers and other scenarios with extremely high loss requirements, as well as the splicing of special optical fibers (such as erbium-doped optical fibers).
Fixed V-shaped groove alignment
Principle: A simplified design that relies on high-precision V-shaped grooves to physically position optical fibers, assuming that the optical fibers are automatically aligned once placed in. It usually does not have an active alignment function.
Advantages: Simple structure, extremely low cost, and the fastest welding speed.
Disadvantage: The alignment accuracy is completely dependent on the V-shaped groove and the precision of the optical fiber itself, and the loss uncertainty is large.
Application: Some low-end, portable fusion splicers, used for emergency repairs or scenarios where wear and tear is not a concern.
It is now rarely seen and mainly exists in some old-fashioned equipment or teaching scenarios.
Working mode: The operator needs to observe the optical fiber through a microscope, manually adjust the position of the optical fiber on the X/Y axis, and after alignment, the machine or the operator triggers the discharge.
Disadvantages: It has extremely high requirements for the operator's skills, and both the welding quality and efficiency are far lower than those of fully automatic welding.
There are also some specific methods for non-standard quartz glass optical fibers:
Plastic optical fiber splicing
Hot plate fusion splicing or chemical fusion splicing (using solvents to dissolve the end faces of optical fibers and then bond them) is usually employed. Because the melting point of POF is very low, it is not suitable for high-voltage arcs.
Summary and Selection
Welding method | Principle | Advantages | Disadvantage | Main application scenarios |
Discharge welding (Fully automatic | High-voltage arc melting | Low loss, high strength, good reliability and automation | The equipment is expensive and requires power supply | The vast majority of communication scenarios (long-distance trunk lines, metropolitan area networks, FTTH, data centers) |
Non-discharge welding (such as flame) | Gas flame heating | Explosion-proof and no electricity required | High loss, low strength, and reliance on operators | Hazardous environments (oil and gas, chemical industry) are increasingly being phased out |
Cladding alignment | Align with the optical fiber cladding | Low cost and fast speed | It has a large loss for eccentric optical fibers | Ordinary single-mode/multi-mode optical fibers, scenarios where loss requirements are not extremely strict |
Fiber core alignment | Aim directly at the core of the optical fiber | The lowest and most stable loss | The equipment is the most expensive and the speed is slightly slower | Core network, high-speed link, special optical fiber |
Fix the V-shaped groove | Physical V-groove positioning | Low cost and extremely fast speed | The accuracy and stability are poor | Temporary emergency repairs, cable and optical cables, and low-demand scenarios |
Daily engineering and maintenance: The first choice is the fully automatic discharge fusion welding machine.
For extremely high loss requirements (such as long-distance trunk lines) : Within the budget, choose a core alignment type fusion splicer.
For general FTTH access network construction, the cladding alignment type fusion splicer offers the best cost performance.
In hazardous environments without power supply: Consider non-discharge fusion welding, but accept a compromise on its performance. A modern and superior solution is to use intrinsically safe (explosion-proof) fully automatic welding machines.
