Light weighting in power and telecommunications infrastructure is an ongoing trend. Light weighting of key components, such as jacketing, allows for reduced cost and easier installation. One way to make light weight cable jacketing is by introducing low levels of foaming in the jacket, which would contain air and hence, result in reduction of the overall weight of the jacket. However, it is known that foaming of polymers leads to significant loss in mechanical properties, especially the tensile elongation. In this paper, we will present the results of a polyolefin modification study that was used to prepare compounds that enable the production of extruded foamed jackets. The tensile and elongation properties of the foamed jacket made via these modified polyolefin compounds are compared to the one based on unmodified compound. It was found that not all modified resins resulted in the desired improvement, however successful improvement was achieved showing as high as six times higher elongation as compared to the foamed jacket using an unmodified resin system. The modification approach has been extended to various grades of polyolefins.
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