Crastin® for Wire & Cable Applications

Crastin® PBT - the ultimate optic fibre cable solution

Digital transformation is bringing immediate and significant challenges to the communications industry. 5G adoption, growth of hyperscale data centers, and expansion of the Internet of Things all require the communication infrastructure to handle increasing quantities of data effectively on a global scale. Fibre optics offer significantly greater bandwidth potential and are increasingly favoured over traditional co-axial cables.

These trends are driving the need for stricter requirements on polymers used for optical fibre constructions, such as those for tight buffers, loose tubes, and jacketing. Preferred performance benefits include:

• Very good physical properties to protect the fibers from external environment
• Flexibility to allow faster and easier installation
• Allowing thin wall designs — more fibers must be bundled in reduced cable diameters
• Safety and reliability to help new cable designs comply with local or global regulations
• Good extrusion processability to control costs

Crastin® PBT is the resin of choice for cost-effective, high-performance optical fibre cables across a wide range of electrical and electronic applications. Specific benefits for optical fibre cables include strong mechanical properties, contributions to a stable manufacturing process, and low signal attenuation attained by:

• Enabling thin wall constructions and good kink resistance
• High flexural modulus and elongation at break
• Excellent low-temperature impact resistance
• Consistent hydrolysis performance and stress crack resistance
• Maintaining tubes OD/ID (dimensions)
• Fast line speed and start-up
• Isotropic shrinkage
• Low post shrinkage and coefficient of linear thermal expansion
• Compatible with many EMC coating technologies to protect all sensitive electronics

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