15 Thermoplastic elastomeric (TPE) materials and their use in outdoor electrical insulation k SeP]RTSE cdSh T]cTaA!cS Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci. 29 (2011) 15-30 Corresponding author: Salman Amin, e-mail: [email protected] THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERIC (TPE) MATERIALS AND THEIR USE IN OUTDOOR ELECTRICAL INSULATION Salman Amin 1 and Muhammad Amin 2 1 University of Engineering & Technology, Taxila, Pakistan 2 CIIT, Wah, Taxila, Pakistan Received: March 03, 2011 Abstract. The use of polymeric materials has become very popular since last thirty years in many applications. The materials in this category can be broadly divided into two categories i.e. thermo bTcP]Sc WTa? A_[Pbc XRb I Xc WX]RaTPbX]Vc WT f Aa[SobRA]RTa]PQAdcaTRhR[PQX[ XchP]S T]eXaA]?T]c protection issues thermoplastics have gained more attraction over the thermo set. Thermoplas- tic elastomers are novel constructional polymers, which are physically cross linked materials made up of a thermoplastic and an elastomer. TPE have been the interest of numerous re- searchers world wide since last three decades. Thermoplastic elastomers have a very wide- spread application domain. This paper reviews the history, physical, chemical, mechanical, electrical characteristics, advantages and uses of these materials along with a particular focus on their use as outdoor electrical insulation. Results of using different kinds of thermoplastic materials as outdoor insulation in different environments of world are also reviewed. This review expected to be useful for researchers working on thermoplastic elastomers in general and particularly for those working in filed of electrical insulation. 1. INTRODUCTION Polymeric materials can be classified as Thermo- sets and Thermoplastics. Before looking onto ther- moplastic elastomeric materials it is necessary to understand the thermosets and thermoplastics first. 1.1. Thermoset Thermoset is a polymer that is cured by heat or chemical reaction and becomes infusible and in- soluble material. Thermoset polymers have a per- manent irreversible polymerization. Thermoset poly- mers posses a cross linked molecular structure and are formed in two stage polymerization. The first stage is formation of a polymer with linear chains. The second stage of polymerization results in final cross linked structure. The end product can be made rigid or flexible. The Polymerization is controlled to result in heavily cross linked short chains for hard product and lightly cross linked long chains for soft and flexible products [1]. 1.2. Thermoplastic Thermoplastic is a plastic that softens upon heat- ing and hardens when cooled. Thermoplastics are made up of linear molecular chains and can be shaped by flow into articles by molding or extrusion without need of any chemical processing before molding. The most useful physical property of a ther- moplastic is its glass transition temperature at which it begins to soften. Glass transition temperatures of different thermoplastics can be seen in [1]. There are three types of thermoplastics crystalline, amor- phous and semi- crystalline [2,3]. 1.2.1. Crystalline thermoplastics They are usually translucent and their molecular chains have a regular arrangement. They have high and sharp melting temperatures. Compared to amor- phous thermoplastics they have more mechanical impact resistance. Their load bearing capacity can be enhanced considerable with addition of fibers.
THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERIC (TPE) MATERIALSANDTHEIR USE IN OUTDOOR ELECTRICAL INSULATION
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