Analysis of the decrease in attenuation achieved by properly bending plastic optical fibers

The influence of the shape of bends on the total radiation loss along two of the most common optical fibers has been analyzed, as well as the effect produced by variations in the light wavelength. A circumference can cause a slightly higher attenuation than an ellipse close to it, depending on the refractive indices, but curves with short very sharp sections are always bad. All the same, the easiest curve to get, yet one of the best, is the circumference. Variational calculus would lead to the same results