Toward the understanding of the thermal degradation of commercially available fire-resistant cable

Recent studies related to the processing of commercially available cables h ave concerned the effect of the addition to the polymer matrix of zinc bera te and alumina trihydrate to achieve good flame-retardant properties [US BO RAX & Chemical, Firebrake ZB as a fire resistant in halogen-free polymers s ystems, Service Bulletin (1987); K.K. Shen, R. O'Connor, Berates as fire re tardants, Preprint for Addcon '96 Conference, Belgium]. We report the results of a microstructural investigation of such a cable su bmitted to different heat treatments in order to net information about the structural modifications and the degradation of the electrical properties ( the standard tests are described in an Appendix). We conclude with a short proposal to improve its efficiency. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.