Meeting stringent safety standards for wires and cables

Wiring safety codes are targeted to protect people and structures from electrical shock and other hazards such as fire. National standard electrical codes are being followed to regulate the installation of electric lighting and systems. Manufacturers of high performance engineering plastics are expanding their solutions to meet the stringent, yet growing requirements for wires and cables. Recent developments point towards halogen-free, flame-retardance and enhance weatherability while the environment protection issue is being addressed with the release of compounds from bio-based sources. Halogen-free resins set the trend In the 2010 International Wire and Trade Fair, DuPont Performance Polymers presented a number of specialty materials for the wire and cable industry. These included Vamac® ethylene acrylic elastomers (AEM), Zytel® nylon resins, Crastin® PBT thermoplastic polyester resins, Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomer resins and ETPV Performance thermoplastic vulcanisate. These solutions for wire and cable are part of DuPont's efforts towards renewably sourced and halogen free resins. DuPont's thermoplastics and elastomers are used in the development of finished products for either insulation and/or jacketing applications, as well as for straight or coiled cables with enhanced elastic memory recovery over a wide temperature range, which meet stringent requirements at an attractive final cost. End-use industries include automotive, transportation, robotics, appliance, shipyard, as well as oil and alternative energies. The broad product portfolio can be tailored to meet a wide range of application needs, and is based on the company's global manufacturing and supply strength. Most importantly, Performance Polymers products for the wire and cable industry from DuPont can help improve the performance and/or lower cost of the final product. "Beyond those materials already supplied to the wire and cable industry, we are continuously developing new materials to meet new and more demanding requirements in terms of temperature and chemical resistance, coupled with good mechanical performance and high extrusion speeds while reducing our environmental footprint" comments Mr. Jean-Maurice Griffon, wire and cable global marketing manager at DuPont Performance Polymers. In addition to material supply, DuPont provides assistance for its customers in terms of material selection, process optimisation and documentation related to specific end-use requirements. Through co-development efforts with SABIC Innovative Plastics (SABIC-IP), Japan's Nissei Eco Company Ltd. has created a unique solution to significantly reduce the environmental impact of wire harness insulation. That solution is ECO- 01 tubing, a wire insulation product made from SABIC-IP's Flexible Noryl resin. The resin is inherently flame-retardant and free of environmentally harmful heavy metals. It also provides OEMs of home appliances and other products with high heat performance without expensive secondary operations. SABIC-IP's continued investment in high-performance, green technologies is helping customers like Nissei Eco accelerate the creation of differentiated, environmentally progressive end products in an array of markets worldwide. "SABIC Innovative Plastics' Flexible Noryl resin enabled us to develop a breakthrough tubing product to give our company a significant competitive advantage," said Mr. Michio Inamura, chief executive officer, Nissei Eco. "The key to this success was replacing potentially harmful flame-retardant materials without sacrificing high performance or raising costs. Flexible Noryl resin met all of our requirements for the new ECO-01 product line and, thanks to this exceptional SABIC Innovative Plastics material, our customers are very pleased with what the new tubing has to offer." Flexadidas superstar damen glitzer silber