High Flex / Ultra Flexible Cable
Galaxy is a leading supplier of custom and stock high flex cable, also called highly flexible cable, high flexible cable, ultra flexible cable, and continuous flex cable.
High Flex Cable, Highly Flexible Cable, Ultra Flexible Cable
Galaxy is a leading supplier of custom and stock high flex cable, also called highly flexible cable, high flexible cable, ultra flexible cable, and continuous flex cable. Galaxy can help design a custom solution to meet the needs of the intended application for high flex cable.
What is High Flex Cable?
High flexible cables are built for extreme flexing and rigorous performance conditions. High flex cable and wire can withstand continuous flexing up to and exceeding a 10 million flex cycles. Galaxy can design a continuous flex cable to meet the most critical performance standards.
Benefits of High Flex / Highly Flexible / Ultra Flexible Cable
The benefits of a custom designed high flex cable and wire by Galaxy are exceptional performance, extended cable life and greater reliability than standard off the shelf cables.
High Flex Cable Applications
There are many and varied applications for high flex cables. These include, but are not limited to:
- Robotics
- Pick/Place Equipment
- Measurement Equipment
- Conveyor Equipment
- Animatronics
- Packaging Machinery
- Many more applications where continuous motion is required
Galaxy Differentiators / Advantages for High Flex Cable
Galaxy provides highly flexible cable from stock allowing for quick turnaround time and measurable cost savings. Galaxy also designs custom highly flexible cable around specific application circumstances providing a cable for longer life, reduced down time and measurable cost reduction. Various shielding, insulation and jacketing materials are available. No matter what the demand or application, Galaxy can design and provide the high flex cable for a specific application or provide a standard stock high flexible cable to meet specifications.
Features
Galaxy offers high flex cable with the following characteristics that will produce a highly flexible cable or wire:
- Various insulation types
- Various jacketing materials
- Various shielding type
- Low voltage or high voltage ratings
- Halogen free
- Various industry standard certifications such as ICEA, UL, CSA, MSHA, NEMA, USCG, NEC, ASTM , ISO, and IEEE certified, and more
Materials
High flex cable from Galaxy is available with the following materials:
- Tinned plated copper, silver plated copper, nickel plated copper, copper clad steel, high strength alloy and more.
- Stranding of copper can be concentric lay, rope lay, miniature bunch strands; combining smaller wire gauges to produce larger conductors increases the flexibility of the conductor.
- Insulation and jacketing material can consist of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polyethylene (LDPE, MDPE, HDPE), Nylon, Thermoplastic Rubber (TPR), Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE), Tefzel® (ETFE), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), Perfluoroalkoxy (PFA), Silicone Rubber, Hytrel, Polyurethane (PU), Cross Linked Polyethylene (XLPE).
- Fillers, tapes, textile braids – various types
- Different shielding types that can include braid shield, spiral shield, serve shield or combinations of these.
High Flex Cable Technical Specifications
Galaxy offers high flex cable in the following ranges of technical specifications:
- Gauge: 40AWG – 2AWG
- Voltage: specific to application
- Temperature -75⁰C to +250⁰C
FAQs about High Flex Cable
What are some of the causes of failure in a cable?
With respect to flexibility, there are a few basic causes of failure when cables are subjected to flexing of any kind. Insulation and jacketing materials can degrade due to constraint abrasion. Chemicals can also affect and degrade jacket or insulation compounds.
The most common type of failure is a compromise of the shield or the conductor. Galaxy offers shielding options best suited for flexing operations. Likewise, various different conductor options of different metals or alloys in various configurations of stranding will allow for better flexibility. Galaxy can design a cable that is well suited for a specific high flex application.
High Flex Cable Materials Documentation
The following table describes the suitability of typical insulation and jacketing materials for various applications.
| Material | Abrasion Resistance | Flexibility | Voltage Breakdown (volts/mil) | Weather-ability | Nom. Temp Range (°C) | Nom. Dielec Constant | Tichloro-ethylene | Gasoline | Alcoho-glycol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PVC | G | G | 500 | Excellent | -55° - 105° | 8-May | F | P | P |
| Polyurethane | E | E | 500 | Excellent | -50° - 80° | 7 | G | G | G |
| Polyethylene | G | F | 600 | Excellent | -60° - 80° | 2.1 | G | G | G |
| Polyethylene - Foam | P | G | N/A | Excellent | -60° - 80° | 1.5 | P | P | P |
| Polypropylene | E | P | 650 | Excellent | -40° - 105° | 2.2 | G | G | G |
| Nylon | E | P | 450 | Excellent | -40° - 120° | 4 | E | G | E |
| Hytrel | E | F | 860 | Excellent | -50° - 105° | 6 | G | G | G |
| FEP | E | F | 600 | Excellent | -70° - 200° | 2.1 | E | E | E |
| PFA | E | F | 2,000 | Excellent | -70° - 260° | 2 | E | E | E |
| Tefzel | E | F | 400 | Excellent | -70° - 150° | 2.7 | E | E | E |
| Silicone Rubber | F | E | 600 | Excellent | -65° - 200° | 3 | F | G | G |
| TPE | E | G | 650 | Excellent | -75° - 140° | 2.4 | F | P | F |
Terminology Notes
There are various terms used in the wire and cable industry related to this type of cable. They include:
- High Flex Cable
- Highly Flexible Cable
- High Flexible Cable
- High Flexibility Cable
- Ultra Flexible Cable
- Continuous Flex Cable
- Flexible Cable
- Ultra Flex Cable
- Flexible Wire
- Constantly Flexing Cable
- High Performance Cable
- Constant Motion Cable
- Extreme Flexibility Cable
*Tefzel® is a registered trademark of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.
Contact Galaxy Wire & Cable for High Flex Cable
Contact Galaxy for further assistance with high flex cable, ultra flexible cables, and continuous flex cable.