Wire & Cable Market Solutions
Mercury Plastics supports wire and cable manufacturers exclusively through electron beam irradiation crosslinking. By crosslinking insulation and jacketing materials, Mercury helps manufacturers meet demanding thermal, mechanical, electrical, and regulatory performance requirements.
With decades of experience and high-energy electron beam capacity, Mercury delivers precise, repeatable crosslinking for wire and cable products where consistency, compliance, and reliability are critical.
Solving Performance and Compliance Challenges in Wire & Cable
Wire and cable products operate in environments where material performance directly impacts safety, reliability, and service life. Manufacturers must meet stringent industry and OEM specifications while maintaining consistency across high-volume production.
Common challenges include:
Precise Crosslink Density Control
Electrical insulation and jacketing materials require tightly controlled crosslink density to achieve the correct balance of flexibility, strength, and heat resistance. Variability can lead to performance issues or failed compliance testing.
Thermal and Electrical Performance Requirements
Wire and cable constructions must withstand elevated temperatures, continuous electrical loads, and long service lifecycles without degradation, deformation, or loss of insulating properties.
Chemical, Abrasion, and Environmental Resistance
Many applications demand resistance to oils, chemicals, moisture, UV exposure, and physical wear, often in harsh industrial or outdoor environments.
Consistency at Production Scale
Even small variations in crosslinking can affect product performance. Manufacturers need repeatable, validated processing across every run.
Evolving Industry and Regulatory Standards
Wire and cable products must meet UL, CSA, OEM, and application-specific specifications that continue to evolve with new materials and technologies.
Wire & Cable Applications
Mercury Plastics provides electron beam crosslinking services for a wide range of wire and cable constructions, including:
Insulation materials crosslinked to improve thermal stability, electrical performance, and mechanical strength
Cable jacketing crosslinked for enhanced durability, flexibility, and environmental resistance
Heat trace cable constructions requiring precise, repeatable crosslinking performance
Specialty wire and cable designs with application-specific electrical, thermal, or chemical requirements
These solutions support industrial, commercial, and specialty electrical applications where material performance and compliance are non-negotiable.
Our Approach
Precise Electron Beam Crosslinking for Wire & Cable
Wire and cable performance depends on how materials are crosslinked. Mercury Plastics focuses exclusively on delivering controlled, high-quality electron beam crosslinking for wire and cable products.
Electron Beam Crosslinking Expertise
Mercury operates dedicated, in-house electron beam (e-beam) processing systems with decades of experience supporting wire and cable manufacturers. Our capabilities include both 5 MeV and 10 MeV electron beam accelerators, a reel-to-reel material handling system, efficient processing techniques, the ability to process a wide range of wire & cable sizes, and precise dose control.
E-beam crosslinking enhances thermoplastic materials by improving:
- Heat resistance
- Mechanical strength
- Chemical resistance
- Abrasion and wear resistance
- Weathering and UV resistance
The process does not require chemical additives, resulting in a clean, controlled crosslinking method with no residual chemicals.
Process Control and Repeatability
Mercury’s electron beam operations are designed for consistency and validation. Tight control of dose, penetration, and processing parameters ensures repeatable results across high-volume production programs.
This level of control is especially valuable for manufacturers who:
- Require consistent performance to meet specifications
- Operate in regulated or safety-critical applications
- Need confidence that every run meets the same performance criteria
Capacity and Overflow Support
Many wire and cable manufacturers have in-house crosslinking capability but face limitations in beam power, throughput, or available capacity. Mercury serves as a reliable partner for:
- Production overflow
- Capacity expansion without capital investment
- Meeting aggressive timelines or peak demand
Engineering Support Focused on Crosslinking Performance
Mercury’s engineering team works directly with wire and cable manufacturers to optimize crosslinking performance and ensure products meet application-specific requirements.
Our engineers support clients by:
- Evaluating material behavior under electron beam irradiation
- Optimizing dose levels to achieve target performance properties
- Supporting testing and validation against industry and OEM specifications
- Assisting with process refinement for both new and existing products
This collaborative, performance-driven approach helps manufacturers improve product reliability while reducing risk and variability.
Get Started with Mercury Plastics
Discover how Mercury Plastics can help you improve product performance, reduce costs, and accelerate time-to-market.