Abstract

Four different polymer compounds were manufactured to make cable sheaths for the shipping industry. Two kinds of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as the main matrix polymers and EVA-grafted maleic anhydride (EVA-g-MAH) as the coupling agent were selected for compounding with fire retardant, crosslinking agent, filler, plasticizer, and other additives. The properties of the four compounded materials were investigated with different contents of the fire retardant, silane-coated magnesium dihydroxide (S-MDH). In the rheology evaluation, the t₉₀ and ΔT values increased with increasing S-MDH contents. On the other hand, the tensile strength decreased with increasing S-MDH content due to a relative decrease in binder polymers. With increasing S-MDH content, fire resistance increased, but cold resistance showed no obvious enhancement due to the polar effect of vinyl acetate in EVA.

Keywords: cable sheath;ethylene-vinyl acetate;fire retardant;fire resistance;cold resistance