GRP Cable Ladders Technical Information
Captrad Cable Management Systems
The manufacture process
Captrad grp cable management systems are manufactured by the pultrusion process – a continuous production process with comprehension process control in which the reinforcing glass fibre is impregnated with the thermosetting resin and pulled through a heated die where the resin cures to produce the finished solid profile section.
A polyester surface veil is incorporated into the surface during manufacture. It provides protection against scratches, minor impacts and enhances the weather resistance.
The standard resin system for Captrad grp cable systems is a zero halogen, fire retardant isophthalic polyester containing a UV inhibitor. Other resin systems for higher fire resistances, low smoke and toxicity or for especially difficult corrosive conditions can be supplied to order.
Performance benefits
Captrad grp cable management systems have a number of important performance benefits over steel, aluminium and PVC cable support systems.
The high glass content of the sections manufactured by the pultrusion process have high strength and stiffness which enables the cable ladders and trays to carry much more weight over larger spans than PVC while at the same time having much better corrosion and weather resistance than either steel or aluminium.
The grp products are easy to cut and drill on site, which, with their light weight, make installation easy, keeping costs down and speeding installation. Hot work permits are not required and they don’t generate sparks so they can safely be installed on working production processes without the need for expensive shut downs.
The Captrad Cable Trays incorporate a unique “click fit” cover that grips the tray and holds in place in all but the heaviest weather without the need for additional clips or mechanical fastening but is still sufficiently flexible to be able to be removed and refitted without loss of the “click fit” functionality. This important feature significantly speeds installation, keeping installation costs down and avoids the possibly of mechanical clips being lost of dropping into process equipment or product.
Captrad have available a range of support brackets and associated fittings designed specifically for the cable management system.
Collectively these installation benefits can reduce installation time compared to conventional steel cable trays and ladders by up to 30%
Specifications
The cable ladder side rails and rungs are manufactured glass by the pultrusion process from isophthalic polyester thermosetting resin reinforced with E glass giving a high strength dimensionally accurate and thermally stable product. The pultruded sections fully comply with all the requirements of EN13706, grade E17 – Specification of pultruded profiles.
The standard polyester resin is a halogen free fire retardant grade satisfying the requirements of BS476 Pt7, Class 2 and ASTM E85 25 sec - Surface spread of flame. Higher grade fire retardant products can be manufactured to order including the high fire resistance, low smoke and low toxicity required by the London Underground (LUL).
Cable ladders can also be made to order in the highly corrosion resistant vinyl ester resin.
GRP cable ladders are normally electrical non-conductive but for those applications with risk explosive atmospheres an anti-static version is available to order.
The ladder rung is slotted along the length and fitted into the receiving section of the cable ladder where a lip on the base of the ladder side rail gives a positive grip on the rung. Each rung is bolted at each end to the cable ladder side rail to ensure that there is a permanent and secure connection that does not rely on the expansion of plastic fittings for stability
The cable ladders can be fitted with top of bottom covers made for the same E glass fibre reinforced fire retardant polyester as the cable ladder. The covers are fixed on-site with self tapping screws.
Connection plates are easily fitted to the side of the cable ladder to give extra stiffness to the bolted connection.
The standard ladder sizes are:
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Lengths |
3m long |
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Widths |
300, 450,600, 750 and 900mm wide. Other widths can be supplied on request |
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Heights |
100 & 150 |
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Bends |
The radius of bends and risers is 300mm on the inside of bend. Other radii can be manufactured if required |
Corrosion Resistance
Captrad Cable Management Systems do not rot or rust and are not affected by most chemicals. They are not embrittled by exposure to weather or sunlight and they remain stable and exceptionally impact resistance well below sub zero temperatures.
Below is a CAD Drawing of our 100mm Cable Ladder profile
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