EoW July 2013

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Technical article
July 2013 44
Alcan Cable,
General Cable,
409 Reighard Avenue,
Williamsport, PA 17701, USA
Tel: +1 570 321 7715
Email:
Website:
e It is vital to have continuity of
personnel. When today’s expert retires,
then the next designee can seamlessly
go forward for the company. New and
more participation is needed
f Your participation benefits the
industry, fosters competition and
stimulates global trade
g There has been a reduction of support
for standards development
The message to take away from this
is – standards are crucial for the future
of your business. You must petition the
management of your company and
communicate the value and benefits
obtained from participation in standards
organisation work.
3.2 Benefits of Technical Committee
Membership(29)
3.2.1 Employer Benefits:
a Ability to influence content of codes
and standards
b Contribution to improved safety and
performance of products
c Early awareness of new or revised
requirements
3.2.2 Personal Benefits:
Professional development, networking
and recognition.
3.2.3 Small Manufacturer
Representation:
More than half of the members
participating in ASTM’s standards
developing technical committees are
employed in enterprises with 500 or fewer
employees.
3.3 Standards Development
Opportunities
3.3.1 Smart Grid, photovoltaic,
wind and other types of grid
connections
3.3.2 Micro grid Standards –
self-supporting such as
hospitals, military,
university, etc
3.3.3 Determination of heat energy
and the savings through
reduction in usage of carbon
based fuels(28)
3.3.4 The standards of today are
prescriptive(7)
Standards need to become performance
based. New materials can improve the
performance with higher V/mil, better
abuse resistance, and yet, in wire and
cable, standards remain locked within
artificial constraints based upon 1960’s
and earlier technology. General Electric
Co once advertised: “Progress is our most
important product”. New materials can
provide better wire and cable products.
The benefits provided by standards are
high. This value must be enhanced by
recognition of the dynamic changes
occurring in W&C products and movement
towards development of performance
based standards.
4 Conclusions
4.1 All of us need to work toward
maintaining and improving
standards
4.2 It is essential that you and your
organisation participate to
develop and maintain strong
vibrant standards
4.3 Work is needed and challenges
abound in the areas of smart
grid, energy efficiency and
nanotechnology developing areas
of cable products
4.4 Standards must continue to bring
value and benefits to the users of
products
5 Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank Alcan
Cable, a General Cable company, for the
opportunity to present this paper. This
paper was heard at the IWCS symposium
2012. n
6 References
1 John Hall Jr, Home Electrical Fires, National Fire
Protection Association Report, Jan, 2012
2 United States Standards Strategy, approved by the
ANSI board of Directors, December 2, 2010
3 Robert A Williams, Standards in an Open
International Trading System, NEMA Electro-
industry, Pg 10, October 2006
4 Wikipedia and R. Sector, Chicago Tribune, Dec 30,
1903
5 James A Thomas, The Value Factor,
Standardization News, July/August 2012
6 Presidents Conference on Fire Prevention, May
6-8, 1947, page 2
7 L Ingram, Standards – A Great Benefit, SPE 2004
ANTEC Proceedings, pp 3885-3892
8 ASTM D149 Standard Test Method for Dielectric
Breakdown Voltage and Dielectric Strength of
Solid Electrical Insulation Materials at Commercial
Power Frequencies
9 ASTM D1531 Standard Test Methods for Relative
Permittivity (Dielectric Constant) and Dissipation
Factor by Fluid Displacement Procedures
10 ASTM D3756 Standard Test Method for Evaluation
of Resistance to Electrical Breakdown by
Treeing in Solid Dielectric Materials Using
Diverging Fields
11 ASTM D4872 Standard Test Method for Dielectric
Testing of Wire and Cable Filling Compounds
12 ASTM D2303 Standard Test Methods for
Liquid-Contaminant, Inclined-Plane Tracking and
Erosion of Insulating Materials
13 ASTM D2132 Standard Test Method for
Dust-and-Fog Tracking and Erosion Resistance of
Electrical Insulating Materials
14 D470 Standard Test Methods for Crosslinked
Insulations and Jackets for Wire and Cable
15 UL 44 Thermoset-InsulatedWires and Cables
16 UL 83 Thermoplastic-InsulatedWires and Cables
17 ASTM D1929 Standard Test Method for
Determining Ignition Temperature of Plastics
18 ASTM D2863 Standard Test Method for Measuring
the Minimum Oxygen Concentration to Support
Candle-Like Combustion of Plastics (Oxygen
Index)
19 ASTM D3801 Standard Test Method for Measuring
the Comparative Burning Characteristics of Solid
Plastics in a Vertical Position
20 ASTM D3874 Standard Test Method for Ignition of
Materials by Hot Wire Sources
21 ASTM D5424 Standard Test Method for Smoke
Obscuration of Insulating Materials Contained in
Electrical or Optical Fiber Cables When Burning in
a Vertical Cable Tray Configuration
22 ASTM D5485 Standard Test Method for
Determining the Corrosive Effect of Combustion
Products Using the Cone Corrosimeter
23 ASTM D5537 Standard Test Method for Heat
Release, Flame Spread, Smoke Obscuration,
and Mass Loss Testing of Insulating Materials
International Wire & Cable Symposium 816
Proceedings of the 61st IWCS Conference
Contained in Electrical or Optical Fiber
Cables When Burning in a Vertical Cable Tray
Configuration
24 ASTM E662 Test Method for Specific Optical
Density of Smoke Generated by Solid Materials
25 UL 1685 Vertical-Tray Fire-Propagation and
Smoke-Release Test for Electrical and Optical-Fiber
Cables
26 UL 2196 Tests for Fire Resistive Cables
27
electrical.sht
28 Adele Bassett, Consensus Building,
Standardization News, May/June 2012, pg 26-29.
29 Website