Performance advantages of flame-retardant wires and cables

Compared to non flame retardant cable products, flame-retardant wires and cables have incomparable advantages. The specific aspects are as follows:

Flame retardant wires and cables refer to wires and cables that are flame-retardant, block, and delay the spread of flames along the wires and cables, so that the fire does not spread. Therefore, flame-retardant wires and cables should ensure that the wires do not spread after catching fire, or that the flame or residual flame can extinguish on its own within a limited range and time. The structure of flame-retardant wires and cables is basically the same as that of ordinary wires and cables, except that its insulation layer, sheath, outer protective layer, and auxiliary materials (such as tape and fillers) may partially or completely use flame-retardant materials. When a fire occurs, it can slow down the spread of the fire, create favorable conditions for directly and effectively extinguishing the initial fire, reducing casualties and property losses.

The American Institute of Standards and Technology has conducted convincing experiments on representative flame-retardant and non flame-retardant materials, such as polyethylene and rubber cables. They conducted combustion comparison tests in the laboratory, especially in physical rooms, and examined the fire safety of flame-retardant and non flame-retardant materials based on several main parameters such as flammability, ignition rate, heat release rate, toxicity, and smoke production. The following conclusions were drawn:

1. Flame retardant products can provide more than 15 times the escape time compared to non flame retardant products.

2. Flame retardant materials burn only half of non flame retardant materials.

3. The heat release rate of flame-retardant materials is only 1/4 of that of non flame-retardant materials.

4. The total amount of toxic gas in combustion products, expressed as the equivalent amount of carbon monoxide, is only one-third of that in non flame retardant products.

5. There is no significant difference in smoke production performance and smoke output between flame retardant products and non flame retardant products.

The above conclusion indicates that flame retardant materials greatly improve fire safety compared to non flame retardant materials.