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    What Happens if There Are Dust Particles on One of the Connector End Faces During the Connector Mating Process?

    by:
    CLEANING: Ask FOC Ask FOC
    Published: July 18, 2017
    , Last updated: September 10, 2025

    QUESTION: What happens if there are dust particles on one of the connector end faces during the connector mating process?

     

    ANSWER:

    Mating connectors with dust will embed the debris into the ferrule end face causing permanent scratches and pits. The way to calculate contact pressure (P) is to divide the normal force divided by the surface area or simply P=F/A.

    If we assume a connector has mating force of 3kg (6.6 lbs) and that the contact area of the two mated connectors is 200µm (0.00787 inches), the contact force between of the mated connector pair in the contact zone is 147N/m2 (21 psi). This is enough pressure between the two mated ferrules to embed the dust particles into the ferrule end faces creating scratches and pit marks in the glass of the fibre as well as on the surfaces of the zirconia ceramic of a single fiber ferrule and polymer composite materials used for MT ferrules. Scratches and pits located in the contact will have a negative impact of the signal performance and spike the inspection losses and disrupt back reflectance for angles polished connectors.

     

     

    ADDITIONAL CONTENT & RESOURCES:

     

     

    Answered by AskFOC Technical Team WITH the Sticklers MicroCare Corporation Team July 18, 2017

     

     

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    © 2017 Fiber Optic Center, Inc. Article Title: What Happens if There Are Dust Particles on One of the Connector End Faces During the Connector Mating Process? Author: FOC FAQ Published: July 18, 2017

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    About the Author
    FOC FAQ Fiber Optic Center has a team of technical experts and marketing strategists with decades of years in the field. This team contributes to the fiber, cable and specialty industries coverage through news, alerts, reports and general media information.
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    About Fiber Optic Center, Inc.
    Fiber Optic Center, Inc., (FOC), is an international leader in distributing fiber optic components, equipment and supplies and has been helping customers make the best cable assemblies in the world for over two decades. Several areas of specialization and expertise, in which they are the industry leader, make them the preferred choice for many of the world’s fiber professionals. In these key technology areas, FOC is "at least as technical as the manufacturer" about the products they sell. Striving to "make the business part easy," they offer outstanding and personal customer service, low or no minimum purchase order values, and from-stock delivery on industry-leading products and technology. FOC is the industry connection to the most innovative optical products, technologies and technical experts who integrate their manufacturing knowledge and vast experience into customers' worldwide operations. @FiberOpticCntr

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