Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.39, No.1, 79-83, 2000
A new processing method for the fabrication of cylindrical objects with radially varying properties
Objects with spatially varying properties are often desirable for some applications such as the functionally gradient materials (FC;Ms) in the field of powder metallurgy and ceramics or the graded-index plastic optical fibers (GI-POFs) for communications. In the case of FGMs, the material composition of the composite materials may vary spatially, whereas the refractive index varies continuously in the radial direction in the case of GI-POFs. Because of the peculiar property of such objects, they can have very specialized functions. When an optical fiber has a specific refractive index profile, it is capable of transmitting more optical signals per unit time, corresponding to higher bandwidth communications. While the concept of the objects with spatially varying properties has a great potential for various applications, the major obstacle has been limited availability of fabrication techniques. Although there are some methods available, such as the "centrifugal casting" for FGMs and the "interfacial-gel polymerization technique" for GI-POFs, their capabilities are still limited, requiring further development. In this paper, a new fabrication method for cylindrical objects with radially varying properties is introduced with an experimental confirmation. While this method is shown to be capable of producing GI-POFs, its applicability may not be limited to GI-POFs.
Keywords:POLYMER OPTICAL-FIBER