Nowadays the fire alarm is a "hot-spot" having a strong appeal to the people of whole
world. The frequently conflagrations caused by electrical materials, especially the electrical wires and cables, have created enormous losses of lives and property of every country. But today, since the synthetic Mica tape applied to the manufacturing of fire-resistant cables, the losses of fire alarm have being reduced year by year. The fire-resistant synthetic Mica tape invented by us, Guangzhou Tianhe Yingke New Material Product Company (GTY), makes a great contribution to the human society. This new invented product has got The Patent Right in China and got The International Invention Golden Prize issued by Einstein Invention Expo Center of USA in September 1998.

1. What Is the Fire-Resistant Synthetic Mica Tapes?

The synthetic Mica tape, as the term suggests, is a kind of fire-resistant tape manufactured using a artificial synthetic mica as main material. Though the natural mica has very good fire-resistance, but it can't withstand the fire-proof demand in our modern society. The synthetic mica is an excellent fire-resistant material, its first use in the manufacturing of fire-resistant cable since the early of 90's is in Guangzhou Cable Factory of China. So we can say that the first and best Class A fire-resistant cable made of synthetic mica tape is emerged in China.

The superior fire-resistant and high temperature - resistant synthetic mica tape consists of multiple layers. The top layer is a synthetic mica sheet; the middle adhesive layer attaches mica sheet to the third glass cloth layer. This is called the single-faced tape. The double-faced tape has 5 layers. Glass cloths are the top and bottom layers. Adhesive layers are the 2nd and 4th layer with the mica paper sheet in the middle. According to the need of cable design, the customer can select the single or double-faced tape.

2. Main Superiorities of Synthetic Mica Tape

The natural mica tape has a low coefficient of expansion, high dielectric strength, good electric resistance, uniform dielectric constant. It is really a very good electrical and thermal insulator. There are many countries in the world manufacture the fire-resistant cable with natural mica tape, but this kind of tape has also its defects as it can flake off and the insulating property diminished. The cable can only reach a fire-resistant degree Class B of 840 oC.

But the synthetic mica tape has all the properties of natural mica tape except that: it has a much higher temperature resistance of 1200 oC Vs the best natural mica tape only of 840 oC, it has a higher dielectric strength of 185-285 kV/mm Vs 125-281 kV/mm of natural mica tape, it contains fewer impurities and does not flake off.

In addition, under IEC 331 test conditions, the thermal resistant degree of synthetic mica tape can reach class A i.e. 950-1000 oC, but the natural mica tape only class B i.e. 750-800 oC.

Generally say, the synthetic mica tape has the following superior properties:

- High heat resistance and high electric insulation
- High mechanical strength but provide flexibility
- Fiberglass tape with synthetic mica will further improve mica retention
- High conformability
-The mica/fiberglass tape has no petroleum chemical in it, it does not emit toxic
halogen fumes

The synthetic mica tape manufactured according to our invention can be complying with various standards including BS 5750 Part 1, 2 and 3, JIS C 2166, ASTM 1000, IEC 371, IEC331, IEC242, GB12666 and GB5019 etc.

3. Tests sin UL Inc
In March 1997, this patented mica tape was passed all test items in Underwriters
Laboratories Inc. The test was repeated on sample aged 72 hours in a furnace type oven and set at a temperature of 1000 oC. The test result shows as follows.
Quality: The material is a glass-reinforced synthetic mica laminate that can maintain circuit integrity for up to 72 hours at 1000 oC - 1200 oC while under impact. The layer is tightly woven together, so that during processing the layers do not de-laminate or split.