Introduced six years ago, a flexible polyphenylene oxide/polystyrenepolymer is steadily makingprogress as a PVC replacement in wiring in major applications such as cars,medical diagnostic equipment and telecommunications gear.

There is about a mile of wiring in a typical car todayand more than half of it is coated with PVC, a material on some environmentalwatch lists.

Delphi is replacing PVC with the Sabic InnovativePlastics NorylPPO/PS materials in ultra-thin-wall cable insulation that reduces weight by upto 25 percent and reduces mass to allow more vehicle content in the same space.

"The new resin that Sabic Innovative Plastics developedfor Delphi has enabled us to go to market with an automotive cable that notonly supports environmental initiatives and meets our customer's needs for abetter alternative to current offerings, but also provides inherent advantagesin mass and bundle size," says Lynn Long, business line manager for SpecialtyWiring, Delphi Packard.

Samtec, a manufacturer of high-performance, precisiondata cable based in New Albany, IN, is now producing a new ribbonized data ratecable assembly with a coating of 0.005 inch for a Computed Tomography (CT)scanner.

When extruding a dual-material layer over a solid centerconductor, pinholes and breakaways occurred, and the solution was hard to stripand prep.

"Due to our difficulties with this dual-material approachand our desire to eliminate chlorine, we sought a better alternative," says IanSmethurst, business development manager for Samtec. "Our requirements alsoincluded the ability to produce very thin coatings, flame retardance that wouldcomply with requirements for non-halogenated parts, and ease of stripping andprepping. From a cost standpoint, we wanted to be able to run the replacementcoating material on our existing extrusion and ribbonizing equipment."

Most potential replacements were highly filled,precluding use of the company's extrusion equipment. Instead, the companyturned to flexible Noryl.

LTK Industries, a Hong Kong-based wire and cable OEM, isusing flexible Noryl in appliance wiring material applications used in consumerelectronics.

The OEM says that flexible PPO resin surpasses othernon-halogenated materials, including thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) andpolyethylene (PE), with an excellent balance of mechanical properties,flexibility and color retention. It is also recyclable in the originalextrusion manufacturing process while retaining a high level of mechanicalperformance. LTK required high-end performance, including excellent tensilestrength and elongation, flexibility, heat aging, cold bending and aesthetics.

Noryl is widely used in japan for power cord applicationsusing three Flexible Noryl resin grades.

Nonhalogenated Plastic Gains Ground in Wiring_A