Markets electrical/electronic

For the electricity electronics markets. Table 2.18 displays the performances and costs of six engineering thermoplastics reinforced with glass fibres and UL94 VO rated. The designer can choose between four levels of costs, five levels of water absorption and several levels of mechanical and thermal properties according to the requirements. 

The electrical electronics market, with consumption estimated from 3% up to 8% of the thermoplastics total according to the region, is the fourth outlet for thermoplastics. It is also an important sector for thermoplastic composites and TPEs. 

The electrical electronics market dictates some specific regulations. Among them a typical example is the UL (Underwriters Laboratories) requirements related to the long-term service temperature and the fire rating. 

Figure 2.31. Thermoplastic shares in the electrical electronics market...

The electrical electronics market can be divided into several sub-markets differentiated by their functions and requirements. 

The ferroelectricity, combined with excellent mechanical properties and the ease of fabrication, have rendered PVF2 a versatile material for piezoelectric and pyroelectric applications (transducer, stems, ultrasonics, loudspeakers, microphones, finger-press switches, ultrared detectors). Furthermore, PVF2 can be found in semiconductor applications and in the electrical-electronic market (plenum cables, aircraft wiring, computer... 

In the electrical/electronic market, acrylic film adhesives are applied to flexible printed circuits. Radiation-curable acrylates are employed as laminating adhesives (furniture) and binders for coated abrasives (Table 9). 

The amount of phenolics used in molding processes has declined but there is substantial interest in the electrical/electronics market since phenolics can form matricies to withstand considerable mechanical stress while retaining thermal stability. 

The use of adhesives in the electrical industry is rapidly expanding because adhesives are being developed having characteristics suited to the unique needs of electrical/electronic market. Also the electrical industry has gained faith in the reliability of adhesives. 

Electrical, electronic, and technical appHcations use polycarbonates for a variety of purposes. The woddwide market is about 156,000 t aimuaHy. Because of exceHent electrical properties (dielectric strength, volume resistivity), and resistance to heat and humidity, polycarbonate is used for electrical connectors (qv), telephone network devices, oudet boxes, etc. Polycarbonate had been popular for use in computer and business machine housings, but the use of neat resin has been largely supplanted by blends of polycarbonate with ABS. OveraH, however, the total use of polycarbonate continues to increase. 

The commercial production of silicon in the form of binary and ternary alloys began early in the twentieth century with the development of electric-arc and blast furnaces and the subsequent rise in iron (qv) and steel (qv) production (1). The most important and most widely used method for making silicon and silicon alloys is by the reduction of oxides or silicates using carbon (qv) in an electric arc furnace. Primary uses of silicon having a purity of greater than 98% ate in the chemical, aluminum, and electronics markets (for higher purity silicon, see Silicon AND SILICON ALLOYS, PURE SILICON). 

United States in 1998) from coal (56%), nuclear (20%), natural gas (11%), hydro (8%), oil (3%), biomass (1.5%), geothermal (0.2%), wind (0.1%), and solar (0.02%). Recently, wholesale and some retail markets have been unbundled, allowing competitors to sell electrons with the monopoly utility or municipality providing the transmission service. Open-access restructuring gives customers choices and creates a commodity market in which the lowest-cost electricity wins market share at the expense of higher-cost alternatives. 

The composite market shares taken by the automotive transportation, electrical electronics, and sports leisure sectors are approximately twice the average for plastics as a whole. 

Thermoplastics are predominant among the plastics used in the electrical electronics industry with a market share greater than 75%, versus 16% for thermosets and 8% for all composites. 

Figure 2.31 displays the market shares of the most commonly used commodity and engineering thermoplastics in the electrical electronics industry. Only polyamides are identified among the engineering thermoplastics. 

Figure 2.32. Market segmentation of the electrical electronics sector...

Global consumption of PPEs is estimated at 350000-500000 t/year, mainly in the automotive, electrical electronics, business machine appliance markets. 

The market demand for halogen-free fire-retardant polymers has been increasing steadily in applications such as electrical/electronics, transportation, and construction products. In wire and cable, the high loadings of ATH or MDH are required (60-70 wt.%). Recent developmental efforts... 

Syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) represents an important achievement in olefin polymerization catalysis. Syndiotactic PS is an industrially relevant thermoplastic material produced by Dow Chemical and Idemitsu Kosan Co. under the tradenames Questra and Xarec , respectively. Industrial interest on sPS originates from the remarkable properties exhibited by this highly crystalline polymer. The high melting temperature, 270 °C, the relatively fast crystallization rate (at least much faster than that of iPS), the high heat resistance, the low dielectric constant, the high elastic modulus, and an excellent resistance to chemicals explain the industrial interest for this material. Syndiotactic PS was considered as an innovative new resin option for the automotive, electrical, and electronic markets, appliances such as... 

Before 1990s, thyristors and transistors were used as power modules for AC drive systems. Since then other semiconductor switching power modules have been used, such as GTO, MOSFETs, IGBTs, and combination of them. Nowadays IGBT and MCT-based inverters are used by electric drives manufacturers for the electric car market. The key characteristics of the different types of technology used for power electronic component are reported in Table 5.1. However, other power switching modules are currently under development [12]. 

According to a report of the German association of electrical engineers ZVEI, the automotive electronics market had a volume of 14.9 billion in 2000 and should grow to 23.9 billion in 2005. This is equivalent to a growth rate of 10% per year [5]. 

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