• Composites Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.26-32
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• 2003

Optical fibers, for splice, are stripped of their plastic coatings with a plastic stripper and cut off at the end. Therefore, stripped fibers often receive accidental damages and sustain small flaws or cracks. As a result, the breaking strength of a fiber splice made under normal conditions is reduced to about 0.4∼1 ㎏ on the average, nearly one-tenth of the fiber's strength. This makes it necessary to reinforce the splice. One of the most practical and reliable methods for optical fiber splicing is fusion splicing, comprising the steps of tripping the plastic coatings from the two fiber ends to be splice, placing the two bare fiber ends in an end-to-end position, and of fusion splicing, such as are fusion. Generally, steel bar (SB) sleeve is used to reinforce this fusion-splicing region. However, this type of sleeve has a critical defect to keep optical lose after bent by a sudden load. New type of composite spring (CS) sleeve is developed to make up for the weak points in the SB sleeve. This sleeve has an effect on restoration to the original state after eliminating the bending load. The optical spectrum analyzes results show the availability of reinforcement for the fusion splicing optical fiber using small diameter composite springs under the various loading conditions.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect that various concentration and application time of hydrogen peroxide had on tooth whitening and physical properties. The hydroxyapatite (HA) discs of $12mm({\Phi}){\times}1.2mm(t)$ in dimensions were made by compression $(100kg/cm^2)$ and sintering (at $1350^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours) All specimens were polished sequentially with '240 through '2000 emery paper and one side of each specimen was polished finally with $0.3{\mu}m$ alumina paste. The discs were placed in sterile whole stimulated saliva overnight at $37^{\circ}C$ in order to form an in vitro pellicle layer. Then the discs were rinsed with distilled water and soaked into staining broth at $37^{\circ}C$ for 7 days. These stained specimens were bleached with hydrogen peroxide according to the change of concentration $(3{\sim}30%)$ and application time ($3{\sim}10$ days). The specimens were analyzed with a spectrophotometer, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), surface roughness tester, microhardness tester and biaxial flexural strength. The results of present study can be summarized as follows : 1. The bleaching effect was increased with the increased concentration and the extended application time of hydrogen peroxide. 2. The surface roughness was significantly increased from the specimen bleached with 15% hydrogen peroxide for 10 days and with 30% for 7 and 10 days respectively (p<0.05). 3. The changes of crystal phase observed by XRD between before and after bleaching weren't shown of any difference, but microporous structure of surface observed by SEM was shown of increase with the increased concentration and the extended application. 4. The biaxial flexural strength was significantly decreased from bleaching of specimen with 30% hydrogen peroxide for 7 and 10 days respectively (p<0.05) 5. Microhardness was significantly decreased from bleaching with 15% hydrogen peroxide for 10 days and with 30% for 3, 7 and 10 days respectively (p<0.05). Although the tooth bleaching effect was greater when the high concentration was applied, further in vivo experiment will be needed to prove it's safety.