Characteristics of insulation and sheath materials

What cable insulation and sheathing materials are available? How do the materials differ in their properties?

Materials for cable insulation and cable jacket
The right selection of insulation and sheath materials is of key importance for the construction and optimum use of a cable. Depending on the requirements and specific application of a cable, the insulation and sheath materials can fulfil different functions and should therefore be selected carefully.

Cable insulation (core insulation)
The function and requirements of the core insulation or insulation material primarily relate to dielectric strength and insulation properties. Depending on the area of application, however, additional material parameters such as the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss factor can also be decisive for the production of high-quality communication cables.

Cable sheath (outer sheath)
The sheath material of a cable fulfils various functions that influence its service life. The outer sheath of a cable fulfils a protective function against external influences. This includes, for example, mechanical stresses such as flexibility, tensile strength, elongation at break or abrasion resistance, but also environmental conditions such as operating temperature range, chemical, moisture and water resistance as well as UV and weather resistance. In special applications, radiation resistance and fire protection requirements such as flame resistance and smoke propagation are also required.

Selecting the optimum combination of materials
SAB Bröckskes processes various materials as insulation and sheathing materials in cable production. In addition to PVC, PE and PP, we also process plastics such as PUR, TPE-E, TPE-O, TPE-V and TPE-S as well as high-performance plastics such as FEP, PFA, ETFE and silicone. This enables us to realize customer-specific material combinations that are tailored to the respective application. The focus is always on the economic efficiency. The choice of material must offer a good balance between cost and performance. However, environmental compatibility and recyclability are also taken into account through the selection of sustainable materials that are preferred and used by us.

PVC or PUR as outer sheath?
In industrial applications, cables with PVC or PUR outer sheaths are often used. This raises the question of which material is best suited to which situation. PVC cables are generally suitable for moderate mechanical stress. They are used where medium requirements are placed on flexibility and resistance, particularly indoors or in protected environments. PUR cables, on the other hand, are ideal for applications with high mechanical stresses that require a high degree of flexibility or mobility, e.g. in drag chains or robot applications. Thanks to their robustness, they can easily withstand several million bending cycles in industrial applications. PUR cables demonstrate their advantages outdoors or in harsh environmental conditions, such as strong UV radiation, moisture or abrasion. They are ideal when chemical and weather-related stresses are a factor and a long service life and high resistance are required.

These and other properties and differences between the two and other materials are compared in the following table to help you make an initial selection of suitable materials. If you require further technical properties of insulating and sheathing materials or have any questions about the specified values, please contact our SAB team. We will be happy to put together the optimum combination of materials for you, taking your specific application into account.