EoW July 2013

Technical article

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 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 6 References

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

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 61 st 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 www.usfa.fema.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev/ electrical.sht 28 Adele Bassett, Consensus Building, Standardization News, May/June 2012, pg 26-29. 29 www.ASTM.org Website

Alcan Cable, General Cable, 409 Reighard Avenue, Williamsport, PA 17701, USA Tel : +1 570 321 7715 Email : larry.ingram@alcan.com Website : www.alcan.com

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July 2013