The use of rubber in the manufacture of cables

Currently, a material such as rubber is widely used in the electrical industry in general and in particular in the production of cable products. It is a multi-component mixture based on rubbers, as well as substances close to them in terms of properties - so-called elastomers. The most important operation performed in the production of rubber components for cables and other products is vulcanization.

The main property of rubbers — the basis of the material of insulating and other cable sheaths (KGN, RPSh, other brands) — is their high elasticity. This is due to the fact that the rubber molecules have a zigzag shape, reminiscent of a hinge. The influence of tensile forces on rubber leads to the fact that the shape of the rubber molecules approaches rectilinear. When the load is removed, the molecules return to their original state, in which rubber has the property of an amorphous body.

In the production of insulating and other sheaths KGN, KG-KhL, other types of cable products, pure rubber is not used. It has low resistance to high and low temperatures and other external factors.This drawback is eliminated during the aforementioned vulcanization — the process of heating the material with the prior introduction of sulfur into it. When vulcanization takes place, some of the double bonds of the molecules of the chain are broken and new molecules are cross-linked, in which sulfur atoms are included. The resulting spatial structure gives the vulcanized rubber very attractive operational properties.

In addition to the elasticity mentioned above, the rubber used in the production of cables of the brands RPSh, KGN and many others has such qualities as resistance to moisture and oil, high electrical resistance and the ability to resist the spread of combustion. These properties are achieved by using modern technological processes for processing rubber, as well as by using synthetic (in particular, silicon silicon) rubber.

It should be noted the disadvantage inherent in rubber: when heated, this material quickly ages, and at the same time becomes brittle, often cracks. Aging of the rubber sheaths of KGN and other similar cables is also caused by intensive exposure of these products to ultraviolet radiation. When working with the described products, this circumstance should be taken into account, if possible, with the exception of laying cables in areas illuminated by direct sunlight.

Nowadays, many specialist organizations sell cable products manufactured using rubber components.