Monday, September 16, 2013

Some Of The Many Uses Of Polyimide Film

By Dawn Williams


If you were to ask someone what they know about polyimide film there is a very good chance that they would be unable to tell you a great deal. This is surprising when you consider just how widespread this material is nowadays. This is a very useful material, largely thanks to the properties inherent with it. It is strong yet lightweight while at the same time it is flexible, its also heat and chemical resistant.

A couple of these properties make it an ideal material for use with modern electronics. A common example that illustrates this point is the flat flexible cable which connects the body of a laptop to the screen. It is easy to understand the need for flexibility as a laptop is opened and closed on such a regular basis.

Should you see a dismantled laptop, then you ought to be able to identify this flexible cable. Just look for the amber colored flat cable. The copper tracks which carry the information between the screen and the body will be easy to see.

Quite often the copper tracks will be sealed to the amber colored sheet by an adhesive. Due to the insulation qualities of this amber sheeting it is even possible for the copper tracks to be mounted on either side of the sheet. In such instances further insulation is required to prevent the outer faces of the copper tracks shorting against the casing. Also this sheeting can be utilized to mask printed circuit boards, and capacitors, transistors and similar devices can also be insulated.

However its the resistance to heat that is often the most important factor when industries decide to use this material. With this in mind manufacturers often elect to use this material in areas which have high operating temperatures. Out of interest this material will cope with temperatures in the region of 800F.

Normally when a material is subjected to such heat it will degrade. It would either begin to contract, or to stretch. Whichever scenario happens the material would no longer be fit for the purpose that it was originally intended. Fortunately this sheeting will survive these temperatures with no ill effects. The only noticeable difference will be that sheeting which is in use, and subject to high temperatures, will appear darker.

This material was first used in the defense industries and by the military. Since its entrance into the civilian world it has slowly become more and more common, as its range of applications has grown. This can occur anywhere between the space agencies and micro electronics.

Take for example engines, these will generate high temperatures whilst in use. These engines can be in the automotive industry, the field of aviation and spaceflight. As this film does not transfer heat from one side of this film to the other, it is ideal to protect various cables and similar items. As such it will prevent the hot metal of the engines damaging the normal insulation of these cables and possibly leading to greater problems.

Polyimide film is extremely durable and hard wearing. Therefore there will be no likelihood that this protective layer will require constant replacement, which in turn means less expense. As a result modern industries are always searching for new ways in which to make use of this versatile material.




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