RUBBER SHEATH COMPOUNDS BASED ON ETHYLENE PROPYLENE RUBBER CHLOROSULFONATED POLYETHYLENE RUBBER BLENDS FOR CABLES

Additives were incorporated in ethylene propylene rubber-chlorosulphonated polyethylene rubber blends in order to enhance their inherent properties to obtain sheath compounds. Types of additives and their quantity were selected carefully after preliminary investigations. From the processibility testing it was found that the additives were distributed uniformly in all the blends; vulcanising agents were also distributed in a similar manner in both the polymer phases of the blends. This led to uniform co-vulcanisation of the rubbers of the compounds, which was evident from the elasticity measurement and resulted in improved solid state physical properties. It is evident from the permanence, flame resistance and electrical property measurements that the selection of additives was appropriate. Peel strength measurement has shown that the nature of adhesion of the sheath compounds to the insulation compounds is dependent on the blend compositions of the two compounds. It is suggested that compounds can be selected from the entire blend composition for special purpose rubber sheaths.