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Tuesday 07/02/2012 GMT


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The Technologies We Use...

Heat shrink technology is based on selective and controlled crosslinking of molecular chains. Crosslinking can be induced be either chemical means or by irradiating the product by an electron beam.

Three dimensional inter-molecular chain (links) are established by exposing the polymer to high speed electron bombardment or by addition of free electron peroxides to the polymer.

The formation of links between molecular chains is called crosslinking.

A direct consequence of crosslinking is that the relative position of each molecule is fixed with the respect to its adjacent molecules. The fixing of the relative position of every molecule in the crosslinked molecular structure amounts to the material achieving "shape memory".

The crosslinked material is characterised be strong binding forces and does not flow on exposure to heat as the links between molecular chains holds the chains together. Beyond a certain temperature called the crystalline melting temperature the crystals disappear and the material becomes soft and mallable.

In this rubbery state it is possible to expand the material using mechanical forces - this process is known as "expansion". The material can be locked in its expanded form by allowing the material to cool to a temperature below its crystalline melting temperature and the material will contract to its original state before expansion.