Estimating the Expected Number of Failures to Buried Optical Fibre Cables Due to Direct Lightning Strokes by Means of a Monte Carlo Algorithm

This paper presents an algorithm, based on a Monte Carlo method, to assess the yearly expected number of failures to buried optical fibre cables (provided with metallic components) due to direct lightning strokes. The random parameters that have been considered in the algorithm are the lightning peak current, the distance between the cable and the point of impact of the stroke to soil and the cable failure current (i.e. the minimum value of the lightning peak current able to produce a failure on the optical fibre cable). From this point of view, this paper proposes a new and more general approach to the problem; because, in addition to the lightning peak current, it is also based on other random parameters that should be considered for a better modelling of the phenomenon. Finally, the occurrence of the cable failures is associated to a time Poisson stochastic process.