Eliminating Corrosion and Heat-Associated Degradation in Electron Beam Processing Chambers
By the standards of most capital equipment, electron beam processing systems built for wire and cable crosslinking have exceptionally long service lives, often lasting several decades before needing a major refi t. However, the electrons used to rapidly crosslink wire also cause heating and ionize the various molecules within the atmosphere of the processing area. This leads to a set of problems: mitigating heat-associated insulation degradation and minimizing the corrosion of internal components. While e-beam irradiation doesn’t require heat to initiate crosslinking, ionizing radiation generates significant heat within the insulation during absorption. If this is left unmitigated, the wire can reach temperatures high enough to cause quality issues within the insulation, such as deformation and coloration changes.