Document G5X52o9V4Mb2QZawRQeaVbx1q

BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL TO: Mr. C. R. Field FROM: DATE: F. A. DeMelio September 6, 1967 TECHNOLOGY MANAGER'S REPORT 22LBUSINESS DEPARTMENT BUSINESS AREA AUGUST 1967 WIRE AND CABLE MATERIALS HIGHLIGHTS Underwriters' Submittal of Copolymer Vulcanizable Kaiser Aluminum has agreed to participate (prepare the necessary constructions) with UCC in our program to have HXFD-3227 (60 part EVA vulcanizable) approved as RHH, RHW and USE insulation. This completes the customer liaison phase of this program. Sample check-out and submittal phases should be completed by late fall. (E. L. Schmidt, A. A. D'Onofrio) 11 S'1 Resin Singles Work has continued on tailoring "S" copolymer in the FCM to modify the extrusion behavior. Previously it was shown that "double c mpounding" gave a product suitable for wire insulation and for blow molding. Loop reactor fluff, DSL-55 20, has now been compounded to give the same final intrinsic viscosity as obtained on double compounding. Extrusion and molding trials have not been run yet. (R. J. Turbett, G. Bush) DXH-28 - Direct Injection of Antioxidant Seadrift produced 400, 000 pounds of DXM-28 resin employing direct injection of Santonox into the product receiver. Control of antioxidant content was good, but the productivity under the recom mended operating conditions was only 94% of normal DXH-28. No attempt was made to increase productivity due to the higher than expected MFR. The resin is currently being evaluated in DFDC -0506 Blk. 9845. (Seadrift, J. F. Groel) DFD-4960 - Bound Brook Production Times Wire and Cable reported good blowing characteristics and good pallet-to-pallet uniformity on their initial 10, 000 pound evaluation of DFD-4960 (1. 1% blowing agent) made in Bay 3 at Bound Brook. They have an additional 20, 000 pounds of this product to run. This evaluation shows that good commercial quality cellular product can be made in Bay 3 equipment. (H. J. Pazinski) -4 *:**.'JR, Research and Development Department Chemicals and Plasties Union Carbide Corporation Bound Brook, New Jersey UCC 042266 Polyethylene for Power Cable Bound Brook: (F. A. DeMelio, A. A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATIONS 1. Polysulfone Film for EHV Cable a. A meeting was held with Anaconda to discuss their requirements for polysulfone film in a high voltage laminated cable. Some of the highlights of this meeting were: (1) Anaconda will require 5000 pounds of embossed polysulfone film in early 1968. UCC will provide. (2) UCC will treat this application as confidential and will not divulge that we are working with Anaconda in this area. (3) Polysulfone presently holds a significant technical edge over all other polymer films being considered for this application. The lagging competition is PPO, FEP and Polycarbonate. b. Phelps Dodge and General Cable have been sampled with 5 mil polysulfone film (prepared from Marietta P -3500) for their own preliminary EHV studies. J. J. Helbling 2. HFDA-4208 Natural Kaiser has purchased an additional 30, 000 pounds of HFDA-4208 Nat. to confirm their July experience with our improved free-flowing version of this product. As a precautionary measure, a box of this second lot was inspected to make sure that sintering and stickiness had not occurred during storage for the last three months. The product was found to still be very dry and freeflowing indicating Kaiser will have no problems with this second shipment. J. F. Groel/E. L. Schmidt 3. Natural Vulcanizable Copolymer Kaiser Aluminum and Alcan were introduced to HXFD-2604 during this period. They each requested a 1000 pound sample in order to prepare production lengths of 15 KV URD cable. A. A. D'Onofrio UCC 042267 Polyethylene for Power Cable Bound Brook (F. A. DeMelio, A. A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 2. 4. Simplex (VSP) 138 KV Failure At the request of Puget Sound Power and Light we participated with Simplex personnel in an investigation of the blown section of 138 KV (VSP) cable. A manufactur ing defect in the semi-conductive strand shield was found. A detailed trip report was written describing these findings. A. A. D'Onofrio MEDIUM AND LOW VOLTAGE INSULATIONS 1. HFDZ-4360 Blk. A 60, 000 pound run of HFDZ-4360 Blk. was made in the Building 14 vulcanizable facilities. This compound which was made from wide specifica tion EVA resin is intended for direct usage as a utility grade 60 part black compound and as a carbon black concentrate to produce 25 and 40 part compounds using X grade natural vulcanizables. Good quality wire samples were made on the laboratory extruder using pellet blends of the natural and black indicating that sufficient homogeneity can be obtained using a cable extruder as a mixing device. V. Viliam, E. L. Schmidt 2. HFDA-4340 A trip was made to Triangle Cable to determine if any black vulcaniza ble business is available at Triangle. Triangle indicated that our HFDA-4340 Blk. had been evaluated along with Cooke's 504. Approval of -4340 was denied because it couldn'tbe stripped from a copper conductor after aging 7 days @ 150C. Supposedly, the 504 compound did not stick. Since Triangle could not find their data to be sure the 504 was not extruded on tin coated wire, we were given a sample of Cooke's compound so that we could produce side by side samples for aging and stripping tests on copper. E. L. Schmidt 3. Underwriters' Submittal of Copolymer Vulcanizable Kaiser Aluminum has agreed to participate (prepare the necessary constructions) with UCC in our program to have HXFD-3227 (60 part EVA vulcanizable) approved as RHH, RHW and USE insulation. This completes the customer liaison phase of this program. Sample check-out and submittal phas s should be completed by late fall. E. L. Schmidt, A. A. D'Onofrio ucc 042258 Polyethylene for Power Cable Bound Brook (F. A. DeMelio, A. A.D'Onofrio) August 1967 3. TRACK RESISTANT INSULATIONS Our first production run, totaling 4000 pounds of a black track resistant vulcanizable polyethylene copolymer was made in the Bound Brook pilot plant facilities. As soon as the compound is completely checked out we will have trial cables made by one or more of the three interested cable manufacturers (Reynolds, Alcan, Olin). These constructions will then be submitted to Baltimore Gas and Electric and Public Service of New Jersey, for characterization on their special spacer cable test facilities. E. L. Schmidt SEMI-CONDUCTIVE POLYETHYLENE DXHD-3240 - Semi-Conductive - Hendrix Assistance was given Hendrix Wire and Cable in the extrusion of DXHD-3240 Blk. as the jacket on a 15 KV URD cable construction. The trial was only partially successful as extreme difficulty was encountered in drying the product to a sufficient degree to produce void-free jacket at stock temperatures of 400 to 410F. Based on this experience, tests are being conducted at Bound Brook to determine whether this product is truly more sensitive to moisture pick-up than our DHD-7702, and what degree of drying is required with this new experimental product. J. F. Groel A project report describing the development of DHDA-7240 Blk. 55 has been written. R. L. Brockett AUTOMOTIVE INSULATIONS 1. Pseudo Crosslinked Polyolefins (a) Several inorganic compounds were added to an ethylene acrylic acid copolymer resin to determine if reaction with the acid group leading to crosslinking of the resin could be obtained. DXM-235 a 60 melt index EAA resin was used as the test resin. Of the various additives tested, zinc oxide was found to be most reactive. Ten per cent of the zinc oxide reduced the resin melt index from 60 to 0 when compounded on a two roll mill held at 175C. Severe bubbling and high pressure development was encountered when we attempted to extrude the reaction product onto wire. Additional experiments at lower additive concentrations are planned. E. L. Schmidt JCC 042269 Tif -i? J Polyethylene for Power Cable Bound Brook <F. A. DeMelio, A. A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 4. (b) Additional work with the ethylene vinyl acetate/silica com bination to obtain a suitable pseudo crosslinked compound for under-the hood automotive harness wiring has given discouraging results. Although we have made compounds that pass our adaptation of Packard's short circuit test, problems of rough extrusion, low tensile elongation, low brittleness, poor abrasion resistance, and high levels of porosity have occurred individually and in combination. E. L. Schmidt NEW BASE RESINS FOR VULCANIZABLES 1. Polymer H Allyl Ester Work has continued on using the allyl ester of Polymer H as a fast curing resin system. Mixtures of a high allyl containing copolymer (DXM235 base) and a lower allyl containing copolymer (DXM-242) were cured with varying amounts of Dicup. Various levels of deformation were obtained. It appears that somewhere between DXM-242 and 235 exists a material which should be ideal as a fast curing resin system. Laboratory cure data indicates that esters made with DXM-235 will be difficult to process into compound. On the other hand, DXM-242 based materials do not cure rapidly enough to be considered as a candidate for a fast curing resin system. E.J. Fisher, E.F. Bonner 2, Ethylene/Ethylidene BCH We have evaluated high melt index ethylene-ethylidene bicycloheptane copolymers as possible fast curing resin systems. The polymers evaluated in this study showed that a 2% Dicup,level cure rates are somewhat faster and ultimate physical properties are obtained in a shorter period of time than with our standard material, HFDA-4208. Rheometer curves show the materials will not have a tendency to scorch during processing. We will request extrudable quantities of a lower melt index resin for further evaluation. E.J. Fisher, J. C. Alexander 3. Ethylene / 2 -Norbornen-5 -ylmethyl Acrylate A sample of an ethylene/2-norbornen-5-ylmethyl acrylate copolymer was investigated as a fast curing resin system. Although this resin as re ceived has no measurable melt index, we were able to study its curing charac teristics. This material cured with 1% Dicup for 7-1/2 minutes at 175C achieved a 7.61% deformation. HFDA-4208 cured under the same conditions achieves only at 42. 6% deformation. Further resin samples will be requested if a higher melt index copolymer can be made. E. J. Fisher, J. C. Alexander ucc 042270 Polyethylene for Power Cable Bound Brook (F. A. DeMelio, A. A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 5. VULCANIZABLE (GENERAL) Monsanto Rheometer During this period, the Monsanto Rheometer was evaluated as a means of evaluating the performance of crosslinking resin systems. It was found that this instrument should be valuable for the development of crosslinking resins system and for quality control. A report detailing the results of this investigation will issue soon. E. J. Fisher Trips 8/4 8/1 8/168/17 8/17 8/178/18 8/16 8/24 E. L. Schmidt A. A. D'Onofrio A. A. D'Onofrio J. F. Groel J. J. Helbling A. A. D'Onofrio E. J. Fisher A, A. D'Onofrio A. A. D'Onofrio Triangle Cable Simplex Wire and Cable Hendrix Wire and Cable N.Y. Office/ Anaconda Monsanto Alcan /New York Office Kaiser Aluminum 15KV and 600V cable. 138KV failure DXHD-3240 Polysulfone EHV Film Rheometer Evaluation Power Cable HXFD-2604 HXFD-3227 Visitors and Training Date Visitor Host Subject 8/22/67 Reynolds Metals A.A.D'Onofrio F. A. DeMelio Power cabl 8/25/67 Unifos Kemie A. A. D'Onofrio Wire and cable. t ucc 042271 s Polyethylene for Communications Cable Bound Brook, (F. A. DeMelio, A. A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 6. TELEPHONE CABLE Low Pressure Products Jackets 1. Elongation Problems - DGDJ-3466 Cyclohexane extraction of DSL-5520 fluff, the feedstock for DGDJ-3466, resulted in the removal of 11.1% low molecular weight resin. Elongation values on plaques pressed from the fluff increased from 280 to 560% when this fraction was removed. W. J. Launder 2. Testing Program - DGDJ-3466 There are several conclusions to be drawn from the testing program conducted this summer: (a) The low molecular weight fraction present in "S" copolymers contributes strongly to the problems of low and erratic elongations observed. Since the problem is seen in tests made on the reactor fluff, it is assumed that it is a basic reaction problem, not a compounding problem. (b) Elongation values are completely satisfactory when tests are made on plaques pressed at 225C or on extruded wire specimens. This suggests that very long chains also play a part in the problem, and that compression molding cycles modified to give better flow will give better elongation results. Work will continue along these lines (E. J, Turbett) with the aim of optimizing molding cycles within the limits set by ASTM specifica tions. W. J. Launder 3. DGDJ-3466 Blk. 9845 - General Cable Discussions with General Cable personnel disclosed that DGDJ-3466 Blk. exhibited a marked loss of elongation after short periods of aging at 7CPC and 100C in their tests. We showed that we had observed erratic behavior in our own tests of the same blend until resin was predried before molding; restilts then were completely satisfactory. This influence of moisture was accepted as reasonable explanation, at least to the extent that General Cable agreed to retest. J.F.Groel, R. J. Turbett ucc 042272 Polyethylene for Cotnmunications Cable Bound Brook (F. A. DeMelio, A. A.D'Onofrio) August 1967 Insulation S Resin Singles Work has continued on tailoring S copolymer in the FCMto modify the extrusion behavior. Previously, it was shown that " double compounding" gave a product suitable for wire insulation and for blow molding. Loop reactor fluff, DSL-5520, has now been compounded to give the same final intrinsic viscosity as obtained on double compounding. Extrusion and molding trials have not been run yet. FCM Feed Melt Index Intrinsic Viscosity Stabilizer Product Melt Index Intrinsic Viscosity Extrusion Conditions Rate, lbs. /hr. Temperature, F HP-hr. /lbs. DEX-7402 Pellets 0. 22 2.5 Polygard/DLTDP DSL-5520 Fluff 0. 22 3,1 Ionol 0. 20 2. 16 Smooth 0. 23 2. 14 - 600 420 0. 12 600 410 0. 12 R. J. Turbett, G Bush High Pressure Polyethylene Jackets 1. DXH-28 -Direct Injection of Antioxidant - Seadrift produced 400, 000 pounds of DXM-28 resin employing direct injection of Santonox into the product receiver. Control of antioxidant content was good, but the pro ductivity under the recommended operating conditions was only 94% of normal DXH-28. No attempt was made to increase productivity due to the higher than expected MFR. The resin is currently being evaluated in DFDC-0506 Blk. 9845. Seadrift, J.F.Groel ucc 042273 Polyethylene for Communications Cable Bound Brook (F. A. DeMelio, A. A, D'Onofrio) August 1967 8. 2. Carbon Black Dispersion - A satisfactory dispersion for utility line wire products like DFDU-6423 was obtained by the direct addition of carbon black in the #4 Farrel continuous mixer. Tape ratings of C+ to B- were experi enced. Slide ratings (not required for this compound) were poor. The use of DYDT flake, powdered DYNK, and DSL-55 20 powder premixed with the carbon black did not give better dispersions. Scale-up to the Line 5 #9 FCM is being planned for next month. N. M. Burns 3. Competitive Resins Evaluation - Monsanto's MPE-19 has many of the characteristics of DFDC -0506 but seems to be an inferior match. The sample evaluated had very borderline brittle properties in plaque and pipe form. It failed stress crack in 100% Hostapal after Western Electric con ditioning. Alathon 1250 is different from DFDC-0506 in that density and dielectric constant are higher, indicating more comonomer. Plaque brittleness is very good but in pipe form it was inferior to DFDC-0506 and about equivalent to MPE-19. N. M. Burns 4. Evaluation of Low Cost Dow Jacketing Compound - An evaluation was conducted on a Dow low density jacketing material purchased by Tenco, on the West Coast, for. 14<?/lb. Data indicated it was not a junk compound but most likely was produced to meet the Western Electric or REA PE-200 require ments for a prime jacketing compound. Since it did not meet the glass slide dispersion or electrical requirements, this copolymer based jacketing stock was probably sold at an extremely distressed price. J. F. Groel 5. Western Electric Visits - Visits to Western Electric plants at Hawthorne and Omaha indicated a general satisfaction with DFDC-0506. The compound processes well, has a good appearance, and is seldom rejected for lack of compliance with property specifications. However, the engineer ing personnel are becoming increasingly annoyed at our inability to solve the recurring minor problems: fines at Hawthorne, metal particles, sand, and streamers at Omaha. Competitive compounds also run well. Alathon 1250 often matches the gloss of -0506, although the performance is not as consistent. N. M. Burns ucc 042274 Polyethylene for Communications Cable Bound Brook (F. A.DeMelio, A. A.D'Onofrio) August 1967 9. Insulation 1. Patents - High Speed Compounds - We are attempting to obtain patent coverage for our compounds containing a mixture of low density polyethylene and high density "S" resin (DFDA-6030 and DFDA-0197). Since there is a certain amount of prior art in this area we have been working closely with the Patent Dept. (J. Grinnell) in an attempt to build a patentable case. Our best approach is to claim that the high molecular weight tail in the "S" resin is responsible for the surface smoothness ob tained in the low density compounds. Our goal is to describe this HMW tail in defendable terms. With the aid of GPC it appears that we may be able to accomplish this goal. J. J. Helbling, J. Dagon 2. Embrittlement Testing - In order to duplicate the possible condition that telephone cable insulation must undergo when subjected to a high temperature environment, such as a pedestal, we have formalized a testing program which will consider variables such as insulation type, effect of colorants, stress level, temperature, and time. Hopefully, we will, at the termination of this test program, be able to (1) explain some of the recent pedestal failures in the industry and (2) be able to recommend an optimum system for use in pedestals. With the cooperation of Superior Cable this program will encompass testing, not only of our own materials, but also those of our competitors. In an initial contact, Superior has agreed to supply us with wire insulated with a competitive high density polyethylene and a competitive polypropylene. Other samples of high and low density insulation will be fabricated in the laboratory. J. J. Helbling 3. Brown Masterbatch - At the request of Sales, we shipped 200 pounds of DXFD-3532 Brown 275 masterbatch to Belden Wire and Cable for use at 6% concentration in their solid jacketing and cellular stock for TV antenna constructions. Good quality product ("B" tapes) were made. Total plant costs on the pilot plant basis were 17.15$/lb. No difficulty is anti cipated in making this material in production. H. J. Pazinski Adhesives Electrodeposition - The responsible engineering group at Western Electric, Baltimore, has decided not to pursue electrodeposition as their prime candidate for producing adhesive aluminum tape. Their reasons are ucc 042275 Polyethylene for Communications Cable Bound Brook (F. A. DeMelio, A. A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 10. (1) inherent complexity and expense of the process and (2) an adhesion level less than that obtained with Dow's Zetabond. They now favor the develop ment of an in-line process using a hot melt resin applied with a roller. Western Electric, Kearny, continues to pursue electrodeposition independently of Baltimore and has received one quote of under $12, 000 for a coating unit, E. J. Fisher CELLULAR 1. DFD-4960 - Bound Brook Production Times Wire and Cable reported good blowing characteristics and good pallet to pallet uniformity on their initial 10, 000 pound evaluation of DFD-4960 (1.1% blowing agent) made in Bay 3 at Bound Brook. They have an additional 20, 000 pounds of this product to run. This evaluation shows that a good commercial quality cellular product can be made in Bay 3 equipment. H. J. Pazinski 2. DFDB-6660 Plate-Out Problem Initial trials show that we were able to reduce plate-out on the die with DFDB-6660 by (1) using a finer particle size blowing agent (Celogen AZVF) and (2) by adding 1% of a filler (OMYA BSH), Additional runs will be to confirm the above and to investigate head pressure as a means of scouring the plate-out. H. J. Pazinski 3. DFD-4960 - Whitney Blake A visit was made to Whitney Blake, North Carolina to assist in resolving extrusion problems encountered in extruding 1/2" O. D. CATV cable. The problems not believed due to the compound, DFD-4960, were twofold: (a) A pulsation which gave a + 1-1/2 mil O. D. variation every 8 seconds when operating at 30 rpm. (b) A + . 25 mil O.D. variation which occurs with each rpm of the screw. ucc Wit ID Polyethylene for Communications Cable Bound Brook (F. A. DeMelio, A* A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 11 By starve feeding the extruder, the former was minimized, but all attempts to reduce the rpm cycle were unsuccessful. Trial was discontinued when measurements on the screw indicated it was excessively out of line. It was sent back to the manufacturer, Syncro, for straightening. Problem will be pursued further on the return of the screw. J. F. Groel 4. Quality Control Testing We are refining the infra-red test to obtain more definitive data on determining the blowing agent content in DFDB-6660 and DFD-4960. We expect to use this test for quality control of our cellular products. H. J. Pazinski Trips 8/22-8/23 8/23 8/24 8/24-8/25 J. F. Groel N. M. Burns F. A. DeMelio N. M. Burns F. A. DeMelio E. J. Fisher Whitney Blake Western Electric Hawthorne Western Electric Omaha Western Electric, Baltimore Cellular Extrusion Cable Jackets Cable Jackets Electrodeposition, Adhesives Visitors and Training 8/21/8/25 Sales Trainees J. F. Groel Wire and Cable Training Program Silicone Rubber for Wire and Cable Tonawanda (D. B. Braun, P, K. Huester, T. C Williams) August, 1967 12. W/C Compounds for Mil-C -8777 and -3702 Continued investigation of the effects of various stabilizers in this system is not yet complete. We do know that these effects are much more complicated in this system which contains a mixture of plasticizers than the effects noted in the recipe for Mil-C -3702 wire which contained only one plasticizer. Since most of the effects show up clearly only after several weeks bin aging, progress is slow. Critical Performance Properties Aging at Subcritical Temperatures The physical-chemical nature of the film formed on the surfaces of aging silicone rubbers is being investigated. Neutron inelastic scatt ring indicates that the film is more ordered than the interior of the aged rubber and the surface of unaged rubber. Chemical analysis shows essen tially the same silicon/carbon ratios for the surface film and interior. Although evidence so far is fragmentary, it appears that over-oxidation of the rubber surface is unlikely. Overall evidence indicates that oxygen and/or water diffuses into the rubber and interacts to generate mobile polymer fragments which diffuse to the surface to form the film observed. Plasticizers & Dry Blend Resin for Wire & Cable Tarrytown (W. H. Bauer) August 1967 13. Chlorinated Polyethylene No conclusive results were obtained in the evaluation of this polymer as a plasticizing agent for PVC due to difficulties encountered in the extrusion of samples. Due to the low priority status of this program, rerun will be postponed indefinitely. E. B. Harris Competitive Resin Evaluation Work is proceeding at full speed to complete the evaluation of the nine samples received. Others will be handled as they arrive. The results on insulation resistance and volume resistivity tests will also be used to correlate testing at Tarrytown and Texas City. E. B. Harris Flexol 63 Evaluation of the oil resistance of insulation containing this plasticizer is in progress. E. B. Harris THW Wire, 10-10/EFO Blends Work on defining the moisture sensitivity of this plasticizer blend, using the UL S. I. C. test, is in progress. E. B. Harris uec 042279 PVC Compounds for Wire and Cable Bound Brook (F. A. DeMelio) August 1967 14. QFY-9219 - Prestolite Our evaluation of the competitive compound Exon 500 shows it to be slightly harder (79 versus 76 Durometer A) and to extrude approximately 10% faster than the Prestolite formulation QFY-9219. We plan to modify the QFY-9219 to obtain equivalent hardness and extrusion properties. H. J. Pazinski Drop Wire Adhesive PVC insulation samples using wire primed with Dr. S. W. Chow's ionic interpolymer (8448-28) have been oven aged at 70Cfor a period of four days. During this aging period, adhesion has dropped off considerably. We will compare the performance of this interpolymer with other candidates, such as silanes, in a Western Electric PVC drop wire formulation. E. J. Fisher Visitors 8/28-8/31 Sales Trainees H. J. Pazinski Vinyl Compound for Wire & Cable ijno 042280 Suspension Vinyl Resin Process Texas City (D. E. Richardson) August 1967 15. Use of Dry Blend Wire and Cable Resins at Capitol Wire and Cable Marketing personnel reported that Capitol Wire and Cable uses Diamond 450 and 500 for wire coating in their Plano, Texas plant, with Thompson's Trulon resins as alternates. Capitol is interested in evaluating UCC resins, and requested a sample of a resin in the 1. 05-1. 10 inherent viscosity range. Since such a resin is not readily available, they will be sampled with double-washed QSAN-7 (1. 00-1. 05 inherent viscosity) initially. Dry blend time is not critical at Capitol because they blend with a Henschel Mixer, D. E. Richardson, Wire and Cable Marketing Personnel UCC 042281 Polysulfone for Wire and Cable Bound Brook (A. A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 16. Block Copolymer Modified PolyBulfone To evaluate its effect as a stress cracking additive, a block copolymer of silicone and polysulfone (A. Noshay) was added to natural polysulfone at concentrations of 5, 10, and 25%. These blends were then extruded onto wire and are now being evaluated. Our evaluations consist of two stages: (1) Screening to deter mine if resistance to stress cracking has been improved and (2) if Stage 1 is promising,a complete physical property evaluation will be conducted. Although it is still too soon to reach any definite conclusion, the following information has been gained. 1. Fabrication on wire at the various concentration levels is relatively easy. 2. All of the compounds exhibit some crazing in propyl and butyl alcohol. 3. Short term aging at 170C and 150C indicates that the 25% compound retains much more of its ductility when com pared to those formulations containing 0, 5, or 10% of the block copolymer additive. J. J. Helbling Bis S Homopolymer Our previous evaluation of Bis S polyether as an insulation did not include tensile/elongation properties, because of the high contamination level in the material. Thus we recently attempted to coat wire with Bis S homopolymers that had been "cleaned up", in an attempt to obtain this data. Neither of the samples that have been prepared were suitable, since they both gave evidence of poor thermal stability. Reinforced Polysulfone J. J. Helbling Our early attempts to limit stress crazing by adding glass fiber to polysulfone have not given favorable results. Although it is possible to coat wire with 1/2% and 1% glass-filled polysulfone, the resultant insulations were not as resistant to ESC as natural polysulfone. ucc 042282 Folysulfone for Wire and Cable Bound Brook (A. A. D'Onofrio) August 1967 17. Formation of bubbles in the glass samples was noted and was attributed to the decomposition of the glass sizing. Therefore, unsized quartz, was added, with subsequent elimination of the bubbles. Unlike glass, the quartz mixture could not be put on wire by the tube on process used for polysulfone. Asbestos-filled polysulfone, prepared by William Mulvaney, will be the next filler tried in this study. R. R. Porcelli ucc 042283 Distribution - August 1967 Technology Manager's Report Wire and Cable Materials SOUTH CHARLESTON Dr. F. E. Bailey Mr. J. W. Biddle Dr. F. B. Brown Mr. G. H. Coppala Mr. J.M.Davision Mr. A. G. Gibson Dr. R. I. Hoaglin Dr. F. Johnston Mr. R. G. Kelso Mr. R. D. Lundberg Mr. C. H. Madge Dr. G. G. Madgwick Dr. R^W. Manning Mr/J. S. Nicholas Mr. J. J. Smith /Mr. R. N. Wheeler Dr. T. P. Wilson TARRYTOWN Mr. W. H. Bauer Mr. D. B. Bruan Mr. M. L. Dunham Mr. P. K. Huester Mr. T.H. Welch Mr. T. C. Williams SISTERSVILLE Mr.D. L. Bailey Mr. O. K. Clark TEXAS CITY Mr. D. E. Richardson Mr. F. A. DeMelio (10) - BB Mr. A. A. D'Onofrio (6) - BB NEW YORK Mr. J. M. Austin (4) Mr. G. P. Bigelow Mr. A. A. Boehm Mr. J. H. Field Mr. C. R. Field Mr. J. T. Ferguson Mr. G. L. Funk Mr. W. H. Joyce Mr. C. G. Knowles Mr. J. W. Luchsinger Mr. J. W. McLaughlin Mr. P. T. McDevitt Mr. W. C. Nissen Dr. L. Shechter Mr. M. M. Suba BOUND BROOK Mr. A. J. Costantin Mr. W. T. Higgins Dr. P. E. Pratt Mr. P. A. Schultz Mr. E. B. Sharp Assistant Directors R AD (15) SEADRIFT Mr. H. W. Kacy Mr. D. L. Wiley POINT -AUX -TREMBLES Mr. G. L. Bata Mr. J. F. Boire