CA1124345A - Nylon coated sheathed cables - Google Patents

Nylon coated sheathed cables

Info

Publication number
CA1124345A
CA1124345A CA323,163A CA323163A CA1124345A CA 1124345 A CA1124345 A CA 1124345A CA 323163 A CA323163 A CA 323163A CA 1124345 A CA1124345 A CA 1124345A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
nylon
cable
cables
jacket
flame
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA323,163A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
S. Michael Jaczek
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Canada Wire and Cable Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Canada Wire and Cable Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Canada Wire and Cable Co Ltd filed Critical Canada Wire and Cable Co Ltd
Priority to CA323,163A priority Critical patent/CA1124345A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1124345A publication Critical patent/CA1124345A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B7/00Insulated conductors or cables characterised by their form
    • H01B7/17Protection against damage caused by external factors, e.g. sheaths or armouring
    • H01B7/18Protection against damage caused by wear, mechanical force or pressure; Sheaths; Armouring
    • H01B7/20Metal tubes, e.g. lead sheaths
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B7/00Insulated conductors or cables characterised by their form
    • H01B7/17Protection against damage caused by external factors, e.g. sheaths or armouring
    • H01B7/18Protection against damage caused by wear, mechanical force or pressure; Sheaths; Armouring
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B7/00Insulated conductors or cables characterised by their form
    • H01B7/17Protection against damage caused by external factors, e.g. sheaths or armouring
    • H01B7/29Protection against damage caused by extremes of temperature or by flame
    • H01B7/295Protection against damage caused by extremes of temperature or by flame using material resistant to flame

Landscapes

  • Insulated Conductors (AREA)
  • Compositions Of Macromolecular Compounds (AREA)

Abstract

NYLON COATED SHEATHED CABLES

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:

A flame retardant cable is disclosed. The cable com-prises at least one insulated conductor, a metal shield surroun-ding the conductor or conductors, and a protective nylon sheath having a thickness between 10 and 25 mils covering the metal shield.

Description

z4345 This Invention relates to sheathed cables of the fire-retardant type.
~ ire-retardant cables are cables designed to meet stringent requirements concerning flame propagation as well as smoke and acid gas evolution. Up to now, the requirements have been adequately met by covering sheathed cables, either smooth or corrugated, with a flame retardant poiyvinylchloride (PVC) jacket. The above coverings adequately meet the requirements as far as flame propagation is concerned but emit a significant amount of smoke and acid gas when burning.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a fire-retardant cable having not only limited flame propagation characteristics but also low smoke and acid gas evo-lution during burning.
The fire retardant cable, in accordance with the in-vention, comprises at least one insulated conductor, a metal shield surrounding the conductor or conductors, and a protective nylon sheath having a thickness between 10 and 25 mils covering the metal shield.
The metal shield is corrugated or smooth and made of copper or aluminum.
The nylon covering is normally applied by vacuum ex-trusion using any conventional cable extruding equipment.
The invention will now be disclosed, by way of example, with reference to the following examples:
Example 1 Two types of nylon were extruded over a l-inch diameter corrugated aluminum sheathed cable. The first nylon material was - ., :

: .

~.243~5 a 6 12 nylon CDupont's Zytel 153HS) which was vacuum drawn over the convolutions of the cable to produce a tight fitting jacket.
The second nylon material was a plasticized nylon (Dupont's Zytel 69) which was vacuum extruded over the ca~le~ The thickness of both nylon sheaths ~as about 15 mils.
To evaluate the cable for flammability and smoke evolu-tion, the two cables were subjected to the Ontario Hydro Vertical Tray Fire Test according to Sp~cification L-891SM-77. This test is done to ensure that cables will contribute little to the pro-pagation of a fire. In this test, six cable lengths are placed in a cable tray twelve inch wide, the cable tray vertically moun-ted, and a 70,000 BTU/hr strip burner flame is applied to the ca-ble for 20 minutes. The extend of charring must be less than 150 cm after the burner has been removed. Both cable constructions burned to approximately 75-~0 cm above the face or leading edge of the burner. The flexible nylon, Zytel 69, showed a slight tendency towards greater burn and slightly denser smoke but both cables could not generate enough heat of combustion to sustain the burning of the cables to the top of the tray. Tables I and II detail the results of the fire test for both constructions.

.. .. .

..

~ 2~345 - 3 ~

TABLE I
Jacket Zytel 153HS
Vertical Test F~re Tray TIME OF BURN OBSERVATIONS.
(min.~
1 No propagation
2 No propa~ation - flame height 30 cm
3 Cables are starting to burn ~ flame height 75 cm
4 Flame height still 75 cm Still no further propagation - low smoke emission 6 No propagation past flame source 7 Ditto 8 Ditto 9 Ditto Ditto 11 Aluminum armour burst on one cable 12 Slight re-propagation ~ flame height 75-80 cm 13 Two cables on left side of burner face burning on their own - no increase in smoke emission Propagation subsided 16 No change 17 Cable on ext~eme right of ~urner burst 18 Same as before 1~ Same No flame propagation past flame source.
Am~ient Temp C 13 C
Flame Spread ~cm~ 73 (on 2 outer cables~, 66 on other 4 cables ~ 4 --Char (cml No char After Burn Cmin.~ None Smoke Prod, Minimal~slight greyish smoke Relative Humidity 46 T~BLE II
Jacket Zytel 69 _rtical Test Fire Tray TIME OF BURN OBSERVATIONS
(min.) 1 Cables are just commencing to burn - Flame height 30 cm 2 Flame spread to 60 cm - cables are burning on their own above point of flame source 3 - Propagation 75 cm 4 No change Propagation of flame subsided ~ smoke production minimal 6 No further propagation of fire 7 No change 8 No change 9 No change No change 11 No change 12 2nd cable on tray from LHS burst - slight increase in burning 13 Burning of exploded cable subsided 14 No furth.er increase in flame spread ~,/ 15 3rd cable on tray from LHS of burner burst (alumi-.:

.

~ 2~3~5 num armour is beginning to melt~
16 3rd cable on tray from RHS of burner burst 17 Slight increase ;n flame height due to burning ga-ses from interior of cable 18 Burning has subsided again 19 No change No change - test terminated. -Ambient Temp C 14~0 Flame Spread (cm~ 80 Char (cm) No char After Burn (min.~ None Smoke Prod. Minimal but slightly more dense than DuPont 153 HS (6-12 Nylon).
Relative Humidity 46%
The UL-83 Steiner Tunnel Test ~ULC-S102-1978) was also performed on both cables and the results are tabulated in the following Table III:
TABLE III
UL83 Steiner Tunnel Test Properties Zytel 153HS j Zytel 69 Spec.
Flame Spread 10.3 15 25 max~
_ .
Smoke Developed 20 25 50 max.
Remarks/Observation 1. Drip at 45 sec 1. Some bur-2. Some burning ning on the on the floor floor 3. Metal Covering 2~ 2 out of burst at 8 min. metal cove-rings burst '"~7 _ .__ 2~39LS

The above results indicate that ~ot~ constructions pass, with the Zytel 153HS jacketed construction sho~ing supe-rior fire resistance and less smoke development. Criteria for passing flame spread and smoke development specifications (25 and 50 respectively in Table I~I~ are outlined in the Canadian Buil-ding Code, 1975.
A 30 mil nylon jacket was also extruded over a 1" dia-meter corrugated aluminum sheathed cable. The nylon material was Nylon 6-12 (Dupont's Zytel 153HS~. The cable was evaluated for flammability and smoke evolution following the above Vertical Tray Fire Test. The nylon restricted the fire for approximately
5 minutes; however, within 12 minutes, the entire tray of cables was consumed indicating that the nylon is not self-extinguishing under these conditions. It has been found that a thinner wall jacket of less than 25 mils contributes less fuel to the fire al-lowing the cable to extinguish itself due to the heat sink effect of the shield upon which the nylon jacket is extruded. Therefo-re, the thickness of the nylon jacket must be kept below 25 mils.
The physical properties of the above two nylon jacketed cables with a wall jacket of about 15 mils were compared to a conventional PVC jacketed cable having a jacket thickness of about 45 milsl and the results of the test are given in the follo-wing Table IV:

.. . . .

~2~3~5 TABLE IV
Physical Properties of Shielded Cables ~.

_ Zytel-153HS . 2y~el 69 PVC Spec~ C22.2 (CSA) Tensile Strength psi (MPa~ 8800 C60,7) 4700 (32.4) 2100 (14.5) 1800 (12,4) min.
Elongation % 340 330 350 250 min.
Cold Bend at -40C Pass Pass Pass No cracks Cold Impact at -40 C Pass Pass Pass No cracks Cold Impact at -50C No cracks 2 out of 5 cablescrack _ Fast Flex or Bend at -40C No cracks No cracks No cracks Abrasion CSA
1. Cycles to Wear Through 200 370 540 _ 2. Wear through per mil 12 15 12 Janco Abrasion*
inches per mil 1.7 6,3 2,2 Cut Through Resistan~e Speed 0.2 cm/min Blade 43 cutting edge : Off Cable**-Peak (Ne~tons~ 2574 1188 146 Valley CNewtons~ 1134 1462 382 Peak - Newtons/mll 151 50 3 Valley - Newtons/mil 67 61 4 . . _ *Abrasive tape moves over the tested surface under the pressure created by weight of 4.25 pounds.
: "Inch~s per mil" refers to the length of the abrasive tape which needs to pass to abrade one mil depth of sample.
**Of~Cable - Peak, Valley" means sample cut from cable at peak or valley of the corrugated shield.

, . .

~24345 The reduced wall thickness C15 mils ~or nylon as com-pared to 45 m;ls for PVCI vasl~ improves the handling of the ca-ble, stripping and its performance at low temperature. While both cable constructions meet CS~ cold bend and impact tests at -40C, they also perform well in the non-specified fast flexing or bending test at -40C which is a measure of their performance that could be encountered in the field. To differentiate bet-ween the two nylons, impact tests were performed at -50C with results indicating that the 6-12 nylon (Zytel 153HS) is supe-rior with no cracks shown. Stripping of the jacket, an impor-tant criteria for handling, was evaluated in the field by elec-tricians using PVC jacketed cables r Their reaction was that there was no problem in stripping either nylon jacket in comparison to the normal PVC jacketed cable.
Abrasion tests were performed on the nylon and PVC
compounds to determine at what wall thickness the nylon is compa-rable to the PVC compound. CSA abrasion tests yield similar re-sults for related compounds when expressed as wear-through cy-cles/unit thickness of jacket. However, the idiosyncracies of each test and material must be more fully explained. The PVC
clogs the sandpaper in the abrasion tester, unllke the hard 6-12 nylon, thus reducing the abrasiveness of the paper causing a falsely good réading. This argument also applies to the soft nylon (Zytel 69) where in this case the nylon lubricates the sandpaper producing better results than anticipated. For con-trast, the hard nylon appears to wear through quickly because it does not remain in the interstices of the sandpaper surface.
In the case of the Janco Abrasion test, cables jacketed .
' - '~, ~ -' "
, .

P~2~34S

with Zy-tel 153HS again appeared to be quite infexior to both PVC
and the flexible nylon~ When expressed as inches of tape to wear through a given thickness of jacket, the nylon does show similar performance to PVC. The results are most unexpected, and to ex-plain this phenomenon, the lubrication of each compound must be considered. However, according to the test, equal jacket thick-nesses are required to produce equal performance upon abrasion.
Both nylons are far ~uperior to PVC in resistance to cut through. Zytel 153HS has superior resistance to cutting over the plasticized nylon.
In conclusion, the above tests have shown that the physical performance which includes flexibility, handling, strip-ping plus bending and impacting at low application temperatures has been improved with the use of a nylon jacket having a thick-ness in the order of 10 to 25 mils as compared to a PVC jacket having a thickness of 4S mils. When compared to the current construction of regular shielded cable with a PVC jacket at wall thickness of 45 mils, a cable jacketed with nylon Zytel 153HS at wall thickness of 10-2S mils performs favourably in regards to physical properties with the exception of abrasion resistance.
In tests performed using CSA and Janco apparatus, the Zytel 153HS
appeared inferior when comparing cable performance. On an equal thLckness basis, the PVC compound and nylon are comparable in abrasion resistance. As explained above, there appears to be subtle reasons why these unexpected results occurred.
Both nylon jacketed cables meet the requirements of the 1975 Canadian Building Code for the UL Steiner Tunnel Tests, fire spread rating and smoke rating. Zytel 69, a plasticized ~2~45 ~ 10 --nylon, gave slightl~ inferior results than Z~tel 153HS, a 6-12 copolymer, ~ut this may be attributed to a slightly higher wall thickness. In previous tests, shielded cable with the PVC
jacket could not meet the smoke requirements of this stringent test.
Another important feature of the present invention is that nylon does not evolve any acid gas when burning.

, :.
.

Claims (6)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A flame retardant cable comprising at least one insulated conductor, a metal shield surrounding said conductor and a protective nylon sheath having a thickness between 10 and 25 mils covering said metal shield.
2. A flame retardant cable as defined in claim 1, wherein the metal shield is corrugated.
3. A flame retardant cable as defined in claim 1, wherein the metal shield is smooth.
4. A flame retardant cable as defined in claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the thickness of said nylon sheath is about 15 mils.
5. A flame retardant cable as defined in claim 1, wherein the shield is made of copper.
6. A flame retardant cable as defined in claim 1, wherein the shield is made of aluminum.
CA323,163A 1979-03-12 1979-03-12 Nylon coated sheathed cables Expired CA1124345A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA323,163A CA1124345A (en) 1979-03-12 1979-03-12 Nylon coated sheathed cables

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA323,163A CA1124345A (en) 1979-03-12 1979-03-12 Nylon coated sheathed cables

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1124345A true CA1124345A (en) 1982-05-25

Family

ID=4113718

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA323,163A Expired CA1124345A (en) 1979-03-12 1979-03-12 Nylon coated sheathed cables

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1124345A (en)

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