Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Aerospace Systems Engineering
Committee Chair
Jason Cassibry
Committee Member
Robert Frederick
Committee Member
John Bennewitz
Committee Member
Natalie Click
Committee Member
Guangsheng Zhang
Research Advisor
Jason Cassibry
Subject(s)
Optical fibers--Thermal conductivity--Simulation methods, Fiber optics
Abstract
The fiber fuse effect is a self-sustaining damage propagation mechanism that can occur in the core of optical fibers. Under sufficient levels of applied power, laser light is absorbed as heat in the fiber. This phenomenon is characterized by a brightly glowing spot in the fiber that propagates towards the source of laser light at about 1 π/π . A numerical simulation of the fiber fuse effect is developed that solves the transient heat equation with source terms in cylindrical coordinates utilizing an explicit finite difference discretization. For the first time in a simulation of this type, a radiation transport equation is solved that models how thermal radiation emitted from the glowing spot is partially transmitted and partially absorbed by the surrounding media utilizing a discrete ordinate method. The use of this radiation model reduces the maximum core temperature by 12647 πΎ and increases peak surface heat flux by 25.3 π/ππ2 for the conditions tested. The fiber fuse effect numerical simulation framework is utilized to investigate the use of the fiber fuse effect as an intentionally triggered method of heat transfer for engineering applications. It is found that for the conditions investigated reduction of the outer diameter of the optical fiber cladding can increase the peak heat flux out of the fiber surface to 195 π/ππ2 compared to the 36 π/ππ2 for the unmodified fiber.
Recommended Citation
Seekins, John, "Thermal analysis of the fiber fuse effect" (2026). Dissertations. 497.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dissertations/497