HEW-KABEL at the SPS IPC Drives exhibition Ultra-thin core insulation and minimized microphonic effects
Among the new products to be shown by HEWKABEL at SPS IPC Drives 2017 are ultrathin insulations (left) of modified PTFE for reduced cable diameters without compromise, as well as tapes based on the HEWSILENT technology for minimizing microphonic effects when transmitting low electrical signals (right). © HEWKABEL
Wipperfürth/Germany, September 2017. Among the variety of new products to be exhibited by specialty cable manufacturer HEWKABEL of Wipperfürth, Germany, at the SPS IPC Drives (November 2830 in Nuremberg) are a modified PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) for ultrathin yet highly resistant insulations and the HEWSILENT technology, also based on PTFE, for minimizing microphonic effects when transmitting low signals. Furthermore, the company will also show – on Stand 2339 in Hall 2 –other special cables and wires for a variety of industrial market segments – from automotive, aerospace, medical technology, robotics, instrumentation & control, and sensor technology to the oil and gas industries.
For multicore cables with the smallest of diameters
The new modified PTFE from HEWKABEL combines for the first time outstanding performance properties with reliable processability even in the case of extremely small dimensions. Its mechanical strength and electrical insulating strength exceed those of conventional PTFE with the same wide service temperature range (+260 °C to –190 °C), the same high temperature and chemical resistance, and unchanged good highfrequency properties (permittivity and dielectric loss factor). This means that the new specialty PTFE is suitable for the production of insulations that can be made very much thinner than was previously possible, but without making any compromises on application properties.
The potential is shown by a pilot application in the form of a multicore cable for the harsh oil production environment. By switching to the new modified PTFE, HEWKABEL was able to reduce the thickness of the insulations from their original 0.16 mm to 0.10 mm, which thus permitted the specified 10% reduction in the cable diameter. Furthermore, the new cable offers almost double the flexural fatigue strength than the previous design – without any change in crosssection, dielectric strength, chemical resistance or tensile strength.
Optimized low signal integrity
The HEWSILENT technology developed by HEWKABEL makes a considerable contribution to avoiding microphonic effects in signal cables and thus to an optimized signal integrity, for example in medical and measurement technology. Such effects can occur with cables under mechanical load when a conductor or screen rub against a nonconductor. The resultant electrical charges can, despite their small size, be so troublesome that they overlay the equally small useful signals. The HEWSILENT technology minimizes the occurrence of such electrical charges and is suitable for both coaxial cables and for paired and multicore cable constructions.
The basis of this technology are conductive tapes based on PTFE with a particularly homogeneous surface resistance in the low Ohm range. To manufacture them, the company has developed a special production line that enables the stringent quality requirements to be continuously met. Apart from that, the inhouse production allows a large amount of versatility with regard to the design and dimensions for a variety of different products, with which, because of the very good plasticity, even complex geometries like the surface of a cable shield can be replicated. Thanks to the inhouse development of special technologies, HEWKABEL can also apply very thin conductive layers with a high level of uniformity.
The effectiveness of the HEWSILENT technology is shown, for example, in its use for a twistedpair wire in which the microphonic effect was lowered from a critical 1.4 pC – with the same wire design – to an outstanding 0.2 pC (approximate figures). As a result, accompanying measures became superfluous.