Fibre splicing:

The splicing of a fibre optic cable is a technique used to combine two fibre cables to generate a permanent connection between the cables. There are two types of splicing techniques that can be used to combine the cables – fusion splicing and mechanical splicing. Mechanical splicing is further divided into two types of splicing, namely V-grooved splicing and elastic tube splicing.

Fusion splicing

The fusion splicing technique gives a permanent connection and a longer life with minimum attenuation to the two optical fibre cables. The fusion technique is an electrical or thermal fusion or joining technique. The electric device or an electric arc is used to fuse the two fibre optic cables so that the cables can produce a connection between them. This splicing technique is costly but offers a longer lifespan.

Mechanical splicing

The mechanical splicing technique is a technique that uses matching fluid to hold and align the fibre cables that are assembled together in one place. When using the mechanical splicing technique there will be a loss in the light that is passing through the fibre optic cable but it will produce a higher back reflection when compared to the fusion splicing.

V-grooved splicing is a technique that uses a substrate formed in a V-shape which is made up of ceramic, silicon, plastic, or any metal. The cables are then placed in the groove and are bonded with an index-matching gel which gives the cables a perfect grip on the connection.

Elastic-tube splicing is mostly used for multimode optical fibre cables. This technique has fewer fibre losses and can be compared to the fusion technique. This technique uses less equipment and the skillset when you compare it to the fusion technique to install and repair. An elastic tube, called rubber, is used and the diameter of the hole in the rubber is less than the diameter of the optical fibre cable. The ends of the optical fibre are tampered with to produce an easy insertion that has no loss in the tube.