The cable sheath is the outermost layer of the cable, serving as the most important barrier to protect the internal structure and ensure that the cable is not damaged during installation and after. Cable sheaths are not intended to replace the reinforcing armor inside the cable, but they can provide a relatively high level of limited protection. In addition, cable jackets also provide protection against water, chemicals, UV rays, and ozone. So, what materials are used for cable sheaths?
Cable materials are particles prepared by mixing, kneading, and extruding polyvinyl chloride-based resins with stabilizers, plasticizers, inorganic fillers such as calcium carbonate, and additives such as lubricants. PVC can be used in various environments and applications. It is cost-effective, flexible, fairly sturdy, and has fire/oil-resistant properties.
However, this material contains harmful substances to the environment and human body and has many problems when applied to special environments. With the increasing environmental awareness and higher requirements for material performance, higher demands have been put forward for PVC materials.
Polyethylene is widely used as a wire and cable wrapping material due to its excellent electrical insulation properties and good processing performance, mainly applied in the insulation layer and sheath layer of wires and cables. It has excellent electrical performance and extremely high insulation resistance. Polyethylene can be hard and very stiff, but low-density PE (LDPE) is more flexible, with excellent moisture resistance. Properly formulated PE has excellent weather resistance.
The linear molecular structure of polyethylene makes it very easy to deform at high temperature, so in the application of polyethylene in the wire and cable industry, it is often cross-linked to make polyethylene a network structure, so that it also has strong anti-deformation ability at high temperature.
Cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are used as insulation materials for wires and cables, but XLPE wires and cables are more environmentally friendly and have better performance than PVC wires and cables.
PUR cables are one of the types of cables whose materials have the advantages of oil resistance and wear resistance, while PVC is made of ordinary materials. In the past few years, the position of polyurethane in the cable industry has become increasingly important. At a certain temperature, this material has mechanical properties similar to rubbers, and the combination of thermoplasticity and elasticity results in TPE thermoplastic elastomers.
Widely used in industrial machinery and equipment, transmission and control systems, various industrial sensors, detection instruments, electronic equipment, household appliances, electromechanics, kitchen equipment, etc., for power supply and signal connection in harsh environments such as oil resistance.
Thermoplastic elastomers have excellent low-temperature performance without the need for funds required for thermosetting materials. It has good chemical and oil resistance and is very flexible. It has good wear resistance and surface texture, but not as sturdy and durable as PUR.
Polyurethane cable refers to a cable that uses polyurethane materials as insulation or sheath, and its super wear-resistant performance refers to the super wear-resistant performance of the cable sheath and insulation layer. The polyurethane material used in cables is generally referred to as TPU cable jacket material, which is thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber. It is mainly divided into polyester type and ether type. Its hardness range is (60HA-85HD), wear-resistant, oil-resistant, transparent, with good elasticity. TPU cable jacket material not only has excellent high wear resistance, high tension, high tensile strength, toughness, and aging resistance, but also is an environmentally friendly material.
The application fields of polyurethane sheathed cables include marine application cables, industrial robot and manipulator cables, port machinery and gantry crane drum cables, mining engineering machinery cables.
Chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) is usually used in very harsh environments. It has the characteristics of lightweight, very hard, low friction coefficient, good oil resistance, good water resistance, excellent chemical resistance, excellent UV resistance, and low cost.