Operating safety, service life and environmental impact determine the cable insulation and jacket materials used in custom cable manufacture. Furthermore, purchase costs, material consumption and the differing processing costs all have to be taken into account.

Layered dielectrics consisting of layers of wrapped and impregnated paper can be regarded as the classical insulating material. It is still used today in high-voltage cables due to good dielectric properties.

However, in modern special cable manufacturing we use first and foremost thermoplastics, crosslinked thermoplastics, elastomers and thermoplastic elastomers as insulation and jacket materials. There are numerous different material combinations to suit varied applications.

 

Jacket materials used in special cables

Thermoplastics

PVC Polyvinyl chloride PE Polyethylene PP Polypropylene PA Polyamide

Fluoropolymers PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene PVDF Polyvinylidene fluoride ETFE Ethylene tetrafluoropropylene PFA Tetrafluoropropene

Elastomers

EPM Ethylene propylene rubber EPDM Ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber NBR Nitrile butadiene rubber CR Polychloroprene CM Chlorinated polyethylene CSM Chlorosulfonated polyethylene EVA Ethylene-vinyl-acetate SIR Silicone rubber

Thermoplastische Elastomere

TPE-E Thermoplastic polyester elastomer TPE-A Thermoplastic polyamide elastomer TPE-U Thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer, PUR TPE-O and TPE-V Thermoplastic polyolefin elastomer TPE-S Thermoplastic Polystyrol elastomer

Crosslinked thermoplastics

VPE Crosslinked polyethylene EVA, EBA and EFA Ethylene co-polymers