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Suppose the products are heated up again beyond
the crystalline melting point, which typically
happens during the installation by a gas torch or
hot air gun. In that case, the products will shrink
again to their original shape. This kind of memory
effect remains valid for the entire lifetime of
the product. It allows an almost unlimited
shelf life for the products under specific
storage and warehouse conditions.
Material Modification
By using additives to the
formulation, characteristics of
the tubes or molded parts can be
modified. The chemical formulation
is the key element to achieve features
required for various industrial applications and
ensure that it can be processed in a cost-efficient
manufacturing process.
Figure 2 displays a general overview of the
different ingredients used to formulate heat shrink
materials to gain the desired properties, depending
on the final product.
As a consequence, the formulation of a material
can be pretty complex. Without adversely
impacting each other, it needs to be assured that
the combination of all the different materials will
combine functions including:
FIGURE 2: Potential Ingredients to formulate heat-shrink materials with the desired properties. (TE Connectivity)
• Mechanical properties
• UV resistance for outdoor applications
• Electrical properties
• Oil blocking characteristics
• Tracking and erosion
• Radiation resistance
• Flame retardant /fire resistant properties
• Electrical stress control
• High UV requirements
