IEC 60794-4:2018

Optical fibre cables - Part 4: Sectional specification - Aerial optical cables along electrical power lines

IEC 60794-4:2018 covers cable construction, test methods, optical, mechanical, environmental and electrical performance requirements for aerial optical fibre cables and cable elements which are intended to be used along power lines (OCEPL) as a high bandwidth transport media for communications and control optical signals, including optical ground wires (OPGW), optical phase conductors (OPPC), metallic aerial self-supported cables (MASS), all-dielectric self-supporting cables (ADSS) and optical attached cables (OPAC). This document excludes figure-8 optical cables to be used on telephone utility poles. The IEC TR 62839-1 gives recommendations to provide the customer with the environmental declaration on request. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2003. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) the specification has been streamlined by cross-referencing IEC 60794-1-1;
b) the classification as type tests or routine tests has been deleted;
c) cable kink test has been deleted;
d) creep test for ADSS is referred to IEC 60794-4-20.
Keywords: aerial optical fibre cables

Câbles à fibres optiques - Partie 4: Spécification intermédiaire - Câbles optiques aériens le long des lignes électriques de transport d'énergie

IEC 60794-4:2018 couvre les exigences relatives à la construction de câbles, aux méthodes d'essai et aux performances optiques, mécaniques environnementales et électriques pour des câbles et des éléments de câbles optiques aériens destinés à ętre utilisés le long des lignes électriques de transport d’énergie (OCEPL: optical cable to be used along electrical power lines) comme support de transport à très large bande pour les signaux optiques de communication et de commande, comprenant les câbles de garde à fibres optiques (OPGW: optical ground wire), les conducteurs de phase à fibres optiques (OPPC: optical phase conductor), les câbles aériens métalliques autoporteurs (MASS: metallic aerial self-supported cable), les câbles autoporteurs entièrement diélectriques (ADSS: all-dielectric self-supporting cable) et les câbles optiques attachés (OPAC: optical attached cable). Le présent document exclut les câbles optiques en forme de "8" utilisés sur les poteaux téléphoniques. L'IEC TR 62839-1 donne des recommandations pour fournir une déclaration environnementale au client à sa demande. Cette deuxième édition annule et remplace la première édition parue en 2003 dont elle constitue une révision technique. La présente édition inclut les modifications techniques majeures suivantes par rapport à l'édition précédente:
a) la spécification a été simplifiée par des références croisées avec l'IEC 60794-1-1;
b) la classification en essais de type ou en essais individuels de série a été supprimée;
c) l'essai de pliure des câbles a été supprimé;
d) l'essai de fluage pour les câbles autoporteurs entičrement diélectriques fait référence à l'IEC 60794-4-20.
Mots-clés: câbles à fibres optiques aériens

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 24-Jun-2018
• ICS: 01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION
• ICS: 33.180.10 - Fibres and cables
• Technical Committee: SC 86A - Fibres and cables
• Current Stage: PPUB - Publication issued
• Start Date: 29-Jun-2018
• Completion Date: 25-Jun-2018

Relations

• Revises: IEC 60794-4:2003 - Optical fibre cables - Part 4: Sectional specification - Aerial optical cables along electrical power lines
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC 60794-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2018-06
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Optical fibre cables –
Part 4: Sectional specification – Aerial optical cables along electrical power
lines
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Central Office Tel.: [phone]
3, rue de Varembé [e-mail]
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
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latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

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IEC 60794-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2018-06
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Optical fibre cables –
Part 4: Sectional specification – Aerial optical cables along electrical power

lines
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 33.180.10 ISBN 978-2-8322-5850-7

– 2 – IEC 60794-4:2018 RLV © IEC 2018
CONTENTS
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references. 6
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviations of cables abbreviated terms . 8
Definitions .
Abbreviations of cables .
4 Optical fibre . 9
4.1 General . 9
4.2 Attenuation . 9
4.2.1 Attenuation coefficient . 9
4.2.2 Attenuation uniformity-attenuation discontinuities . 9
4.3 Cut-off wavelength of cabled fibre. 9
4.4 Fibre colouring . 10
4.5 Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) . 10
5 Cable element . 10
5.1 General . 10
5.2 Slotted core . 10
5.3 Plastic Polymeric tube . 11
5.4 Ribbon . 11
5.5 Metallic tube . 11
5.5.1 General . 11
5.5.2 Metallic tube on the optical core . 11
5.5.3 Fibres directly located in a metallic tube . 12
6 Optical fibre cable construction . 12
6.1 General . 12
6.2 Lay-up of the cable elements . 12
6.3 Cable core filling . 13
6.4 Strength members . 13
6.4.1 General . 13
6.4.2 OPGW, OPPC and MASS . 13
6.4.3 ADSS and OPAC . 14
6.5 Cable sheath (ADSS and OPAC) . 14
6.5.1 Inner sheath . 14
6.5.2 Outer sheath . 14
6.6 Sheath marking . 15
7 Main requirements for installation and operating conditions Characterization
of cable elements . 15
General .
Characterization of optical units for splicing purpose .
8 Design characteristics . 16
9 Optical fibre cable tests . 16
9.1 General . 16
Classification of tests .
Type tests .
Sample tests .
Routine tests .

9.2 Tensile performance . 18
9.3 Stress-strain test on metallic cables. 18
Installation capability .
9.4 Sheave test . 19
Repeated bending .
Impact .
Crush .
Kink .
Torsion .
Temperature cycling .
9.5 Short-circuit . 19
9.6 Lightning test . 20
9.7 Ageing . 20
9.8 Fibre coating compatibility . 20
Finished cable .
9.9 Hydrogen gas . 20
9.10 Aeolian vibration . 20
9.11 Creep . 20
9.12 Fitting compatibility . 20
Water penetration (for filled cables only) .
Bleeding (for filled cables only) .
9.13 Grease . 21
9.14 Attenuation . 21
9.15 Tracking and erosion resistance test on ADSS and OPAC . 21
9.16 Weathering UV resistance test on ADSS and OPAC . 21
9.17 Shotgun resistance test on ADSS and OPAC . 21
9.18 Conductor access trolley for OPAC . 21
10 Quality assurance . 21
11 Packaging . 21
Annex A (informative normative) Recommended methods of calculating rated tensile
strength, cross-section of a layer of trapezoidal shaped wires, modulus of elasticity,
linear expansion and DC resistance for OPGW, OPPC and MASS . 23
A.1 Calculation of rated tensile strength (RTS) . 23
A.2 Calculation of the cross-sectional area of a layer of trapezoidal or Z- shaped
wires . 23
A.3 Calculation of the final modulus of elasticity (E) . 23
A.4 Calculation of coefficient of linear expansion (β) . 24
A.5 Calculation of DC resistance . 24
Bibliography . 25

Table 1 – Characteristics of different types of cable elements . 15
Table 2 – Design characteristics . 16
Table 3 – Mechanical and environmental applicable tests . 17

– 4 – IEC 60794-4:2018 RLV © IEC 2018
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
OPTICAL FIBRE CABLES –
Part 4: Sectional specification –
Aerial optical cables along electrical power lines

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Rep
...

IEC 60794-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2018-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Optical fibre cables –
Part 4: Sectional specification – Aerial optical cables along electrical power lines

Câbles à fibres optiques –
Partie 4: Spécification intermédiaire – Câbles optiques aériens le long des lignes
électriques de transport d’énergie

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

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About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

IEC Catalogue - webstore.iec.ch/catalogue Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
The stand-alone application for consulting the entire The world's leading online dictionary of electronic and
bibliographical information on IEC International Standards, electrical terms containing 21 000 terms and definitions in
Technical Specifications, Technical Reports and other English and French, with equivalent terms in 16 additional
documents. Available for PC, Mac OS, Android Tablets and languages. Also known as the International Electrotechnical
iPad. Vocabulary (IEV) online.

IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform IEC Glossary - std.iec.ch/glossary
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a 67 000 electrotechnical terminology entries in English and
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical French extracted from the Terms and Definitions clause of
committee,…). It also gives information on projects, replaced IEC publications issued since 2002. Some entries have been
and withdrawn publications. collected from earlier publications of IEC TC 37, 77, 86 and

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IEC 60794-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2018-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Optical fibre cables –
Part 4: Sectional specification – Aerial optical cables along electrical power lines

Câbles à fibres optiques –
Partie 4: Spécification intermédiaire – Câbles optiques aériens le long des lignes

électriques de transport d’énergie

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 33.180.10 ISBN 978-2-8322-5782-1

– 2 – IEC 60794-4:2018 © IEC 2018
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms . 8
4 Optical fibre . 8
4.1 General . 8
4.2 Attenuation . 8
4.2.1 Attenuation coefficient . 8
4.2.2 Attenuation uniformity-attenuation discontinuities . 8
4.3 Cut-off wavelength of cabled fibre . 8
4.4 Fibre colouring . 8
4.5 Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) . 8
5 Cable element . 8
5.1 General . 8
5.2 Slotted core . 9
5.3 Polymeric tube . 9
5.4 Ribbon . 10
5.5 Metallic tube . 10
5.5.1 General . 10
5.5.2 Metallic tube on the optical core . 10
5.5.3 Fibres directly located in a metallic tube . 10
6 Optical fibre cable construction . 10
6.1 General . 10
6.2 Lay-up of the cable elements . 11
6.3 Cable core filling . 11
6.4 Strength members . 11
6.4.1 General . 11
6.4.2 OPGW, OPPC and MASS . 11
6.4.3 ADSS and OPAC . 12
6.5 Cable sheath (ADSS and OPAC) . 12
6.5.1 Inner sheath . 12
6.5.2 Outer sheath . 12
6.6 Sheath marking . 13
7 Characterization of cable elements . 13
8 Design characteristics . 14
9 Optical fibre cable tests . 14
9.1 General . 14
9.2 Tensile performance . 16
9.3 Stress-strain test on metallic cables . 16
9.4 Sheave test . 16
9.5 Short-circuit . 16
9.6 Lightning test . 16
9.7 Ageing . 16
9.8 Fibre coating compatibility . 17
9.9 Hydrogen gas . 17

9.10 Aeolian vibration . 17
9.11 Creep. 17
9.12 Fitting compatibility . 17
9.13 Grease . 17
9.14 Attenuation . 17
9.15 Tracking and erosion resistance test on ADSS and OPAC . 17
9.16 UV resistance test on ADSS and OPAC . 17
9.17 Shotgun resistance test on ADSS and OPAC . 18
9.18 Conductor access trolley for OPAC . 18
10 Quality assurance . 18
11 Packaging . 18
Annex A (normative) Recommended methods of calculating rated tensile strength,
cross-section of a layer of trapezoidal shaped wires, modulus of elasticity, linear
expansion and DC resistance for OPGW, OPPC and MASS . 19
A.1 Calculation of rated tensile strength (RTS) . 19
A.2 Calculation of the cross-sectional area of a layer of trapezoidal or Z- shaped
wires . 19
A.3 Calculation of the final modulus of elasticity (E) . 19
A.4 Calculation of coefficient of linear expansion (β) . 20
A.5 Calculation of DC resistance . 20
Bibliography .
...