... more than 210 high-end cables with UL ...

Avoid machine fires with high-end TPE cables

According to the US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), machine fires are the fourth leading cause of fires in industrial environments in the USA, closely followed by fires caused by electrical factors. NFPA analyses state: unclassified fires in manufacturing buildings involved flammable or combustible liquids or gases, piping or filters, but also included fires started by electrical wire or cable insulation. Causes are loose clamp connections as well as overloading and cable breaks. Cables that are exposed to permanent movements and the smallest bending radii are therefore particularly at risk. Cables used in applications under such conditions must have jacket materials that can withstand these dynamics over a very long period of time.

igus® has been developing and testing cables for moving applications for more than 30 years. Their different types are adapted to various electrical and mechanical challenges of customers in the industrial environment via different stranding types, strand and jacket materials. The result is a product range of different cable types with jacket materials made of PVC, iguPUR, PUR and TPE, which guarantee the same electrical properties in every version. This selection enables customers to find the right cable for completely different and very specific applications.

igus® categorises the jacket materials of the chainflex® cables in terms of media resistance, temperature resistance, flexural strength and according to the properties "flame-retardant" or "halogen-free", among others. Many thousands of test series and over 30 years of experience in the field also led to the realisation that the halogen-free, non-flame-retardant igus® TPE jacket materials have by far the highest breaking strength at a high bending load and at small bending radii within an e-chain®. However, although these cable series showed the best fatigue bending behaviour in e-chains® by a clear margin, they also had a major disadvantage: as the material was not flame-retardant, it was impossible to obtain UL AWM approval.

In cooperation with the Underwriters Laboratories (UL), igus® has now been able to prove that an AWM approval of the high-end TPE jacket material can indeed comply with the UL standards. The basis of the argument is a comparison of fire safety and secure functionality of a cable. UL specifies the following requirements for an approval: cables must ensure maximum safety and prevent the spread of fire in an application. igus® was able to provide proof from the Underwriters Laboratories that the use of halogen-free high-end TPE reliably prevents premature ageing of the outer jacket in highly dynamic applications; in fact, it almost completely eliminates them. This means that the live wires are protected even under maximum bending load and are so safe that even the development of fires can be prevented. The fact that the cables reliably prevent a reduction of the cable cross-section even under the highest load and with the tightest radii reliably excludes an increase of the current density and thus an excessive heating of the cable up to a possible fire.

By granting the unprecedented new igus® UL AWM approval for chainflex® cables with high-end TPE jackets, UL thus recognises that ensuring the function of cables in motion is of equal relevance to all factors that prevent the spread of fire. Thus, igus® can expand its high-end chainflex® cable range with UL AWM approval.

Control cables: 

Series	R min. e-chain®	Guaranteed service life [specified in double strokes]
CF9	5 x d	12.5 million
CF10	5 x d	12.5 million

Data cables: 

Series	R min. e-chain®	Guaranteed service life [specified in double strokes]
CF11	6.8 x d	12.5 million
CF12	10 x d	12.5 million

Bus cables: 

Series	R min. e-chain®	Guaranteed service life [specified in double strokes]
CFBUS.LB	7.5 x d	12.5 million

Measurement and system cables:

Series	R min. e-chain®	Guaranteed service life [specified in double strokes]
CF11.D	6.8 x d	12.5 million

Servo cables: 

Series	R min. e-chain®	Guaranteed service life [specified in double strokes]
CF29.D	6.8 x d	12.5 million

Motor cables: 

Series	R min. e-chain®	Guaranteed service life [specified in double strokes]
CF37.D	7.5 x d	12.5 million
CF38	7.5 x d	12.5 million

Single cores: 

Series	R min. e-chain®	Guaranteed service life [specified in double strokes]
CF330	7.5 x d	12.5 million
CF340	7.5 x d	12.5 million