Studies on Loss Aging in Submarine Coaxial Cable During Storage

Attenuation loss change in submarine coaxial cables during 4 years of storage has been measured. Attenuation loss is shown to increase for one year after manufacturing. Then, loss is also shown to increase during summer (May to October) and to stay constant or to decrease during winter (November to April of the next year). This work concentrates on the causes and an estimation method of loss aging. The first part of the paper covers experimental results on the cable aging phenomenon. The second part discusses various factors affecting loss aging, and shows that fretting corrosion on the outer conductor tape will be a main factor. The third part describes an estimation method for and countermeasures to avoid loss aging during cable storage.