Mandrel Wrapping - Determination of Appropriate Mandrel Wrap Conditions

Determination of Appropriate Mandrel Wrap Conditions

The mandrel diameter and number of turns are chosen to eliminate certain modes in a reproducible way. It is empirically observed that more than 5 full 360 degree wraps creates little additional loss, so 3 to 5 turns are commonly specified. The mandrel diameter affects how far into the mode volume the modal unbinding occurs. Experimentally, one plots the transmitted power from a wrapped fibre into which a uniform modal power distribution has been excited, as a function of mandrel diameter, maintaining a constant number of turns. This reveals step-like reductions in transmitted power as the diameter decreases, where each step is the point at which the mandrel is beginning to affect the next-lower mode group. For best measurement reproducibility, one would select a diameter that is not near such a transition, although this may not be possible if measurements must be performed over a range of wavelengths. Total mode volume in a fiber is a function of wavelength, so the mandrel diameter at which the mode group transitions occur will change with wavelength.