CABLE TERMINOLOGY
AWA Aluminium
Wire Armour
A type of cable armouring for
mechanical protection, used for 3 phase cables.
CPE Chlorinated
Polyethylene
An oil, ozone and heat resistant
thermoplastic sheating material.
CSP / CSPE Chlorosulphanated Polyethylene
An oil, ozone and heat resistant
elastomeric compound used as bedding and outer sheath material. DuPont
manufacture this material under the registered trade name "Hypalon".
Dekoron®
Registered trade name for a range of
instrumentation cables insulated and sheathed with a flame retardant PVC. The
standard range includes up to 50 pairs and up to 36 triples in either 0.5mm2 or
1.5mm2 conductors. Larger conductors may be specified, as can options of Lead
Sheathing, SWA, or HF insulation and sheath materials.
DWA Double Wire
Armour
Two layers of wire armour. Typically
used in subsea cables and wrapped contra-helically for
bottom stability.
EPR Ethylene
Propylene Rubber
A water and ozone resistant,
flexible, cross linked high grade insulation material and sometimes as a sheating material.
FR Fire Resistant /
Flame Retardant
Fire Resistant - the property of
cables to continue to function while under the influence of fire. Cables that
are Fire Resistant tend to provide circuit integrity even when burned and
maintains integrity after the fire has extinguished. In most cases, the cables
will withstand a water spray and still provide circuit integrity.
Flame Retardant - the property of
cables to retard or slow the progress of fire and flame along the cable. This
is achieved through the use of materials that do not readily burn and will tend
to self-extinguish.
GSWB Galvanised
Steel Wire Braid
A type of cable armouring for
mechanical protection.
HDPE High Density
Polyethylene
Generally used as a subsea cable sheating material
where it provides high resistance to water penetration, is very hard, has low
coefficient of friction, and is abrasion resistant.
HF Halogen Free
Halogenated plastics (ie. those that
contain chlorine, fluorine, bromine, iodine and astatine) when ignited will tend
to release toxic and corrosive gases, which has potential safety implications,
eg. obstruction of escape routes. Halogen free plastics, as the name suggests,
do not contain halogens.
HOFR Heat, Oil and
Flame Retardant
Refer to FR (flame retardant).
LAS Lead Armour
Sheath
Used for chemical protection against
petrochemicals and other chemicals, that can weaken the insulation materials
used. The lead sheath sits under the mechanical protection (e.g. SWA), to
ensure the chemical barrier isn't compromised.
LSF Low Smoke and
Fumes
Low smoke and fume emissions when
the cable is on fire. Note that it may still contain halogens.
LSTA Low Smoke,
Toxicity and Acidity
Uncommonly used term for bedding and
sheathing materials with low smoke, toxicity and acidity properties. Halogen
free materials such as SHF2 are more or less equivalent to LSTA materials.
LSZH / LS0H Low
Smoke, Zero Halogen
Refer to HF (halogen free).
MGT Mica Glass
Tape
A fire resistant tape usually
wrapped around the insulated conductor bundle beneath the innear sheath.
MICC (MI, MIMS)
Mineral-insulated copper-clad cable
is a variety of electrical cable made from copper conductors inside a copper
sheath, insulated by inorganic magnesium oxide powder. The name is often
abbreviated to MICC or MI cable, and colloquially known as pyro (because the
original manufacturer and vendor for this product in the UK is a company called
Pyrotenax). A similar product sheathed with metals other than copper is called
mineral insulated metal sheathed (MIMS) cable.
Neoprene®
Refer to PCP (polychroloprene)
NYL Nylon sheath
A nylon sheath (or sometimes
described as a sock) is typically used for termite protection in underground
cables and also as a sheating material.
PCP Polychloroprene
This is an oil resistant, tough sheating material, that is used mainly in
mining cables as an outer sheath. DuPont registered trade name for this product
is "Neoprene".
PE Polyethylene
Thermoplastic used as a insulation and sheating material.
PETP Polyethylene
Terephthalate
A polymer resin used in
semi-metallic screens eg. PETP/Al
PVC Polyvinyl Chloride
Commonly used thermoplastic insulation and sheathing material.
SCN Screen
A
tape or braid, usually metallic (copper, aluminium) or semi-metallic (PETP/Al),
wrapped around the cable cores to keep out or contain unwanted radiation /
interference.
SHF2
Halogen
free elastomeric compound commonly used for inner sheath / bedding and outer sheating materials.
SWA Steel Wire
Armour
A
type of cable armouring for mechanical protection.
TAC Tinned Annealed
Copper
Annealed
copper conductors with surface tinning for rust prevention. Annealing refers to
the process of gradually heating and cooling the copper making it more
malleable and less brittle.
TCWB Tinned Copper
Wire Braid
Typically
used for flexible cable armouring of instrument cables.
TPE Thermoplastic
Elastomer
A
plastic material compounded so it displays characteristics like an elastomer.
TPE is normally tough, cut resistant, flexible, smooth, with vibrant colouring.
XLPE Cross-Linked Polyethylene
High
grade insulation material
of cross-linked polyethylene chains giving good high temperature performance.