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Heat shrink tubing is an incredible tool in a wide variety of industries. It protects cables from weather, chemicals, and abrasion. Available in a wide range of colors, it is likewise indispensable for color-coding and bundling cables and wires, relieving cable strain and sealing moisture and dust outside of splices in cables. Braided sleeving can develop frayed ends, so heat shrink is used to neatly terminate them. Boats, aircraft, and military vehicles contain wires and cables that experience extreme heat during operation, and heat shrink tubing helps insulate and protect them. There is nearly no end to the ways in which heat shrink tubing can be used. The material was originally invented by a chemical engineer named Paul Cook, and it was put into production more than 50 years ago. The most commonly used thermoplastics in the manufacture of the tubing are polyolefin and nylon. However, it is also manufactured from other types of materials, such as Knar, PTFE and silicone elastomer. The material is measured by how much the tubing shrinks in comparison to its original size. This number is known as its "shrink ratio." Tubing that has a 2:1 shrink ratio results in an expanded diameter that is exactly two times the sizes of its diameter when shrunken. Ovens, torches, hot water and hot air guns are used to shrink the tubing, depending on the specific material used in its manufacture. Expansion-based heat shrink tubing is used in a process that involves normal polymer tubing being heated to a point slightly above the crystalline melting point of the polymer. The tube is then stretched via the use of gas inflation and cooled quickly. When the tubing is heated a second time, it relaxes back to its original un-expanded size, aided by the use of peroxides, electron beams or moisture. A UV stabilizer is used for heat shrink that is intended for outdoor usage. The outdoor varieties sometimes contain an adhesive lining that bonds the tubing to connectors and cables, forming impermeable, waterproof seals. Cross-linking is the property that gives the heat shrink tubing its unique shrinkable qualities. This process exposes radiation and polymer to create covalent bonds that form between the thermoplastic's atoms. Radiation can alter the molecular structures of some plastics. This prevents their melting and facilitates a smooth, flowing consistency regardless of how much their temperature is raised. Heat shrink also has "memory," which allows it to shrink back into its original size when it is heated. Among many other uses, heat shrink tubing can help users to keep cables organized and can save money for the damages that can occur from unprotected cables.
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