ABSTRACT
The chemical reactions of monomers, oligomers, and significant changes in properties of polymers induced by ionizing radiation discussed in previous chapters can be used for a variety of practical applications. Besides the already mentioned advantages in clean and safe technology, the almost instant conversion and excellent control of dosage and penetration depth electron beam processing found its way to a variety of industrial applications, such as wire and cable insulations; tire manufacturing; production of polymeric foams, heatshrinkable films, and tubings; curing of coatings, adhesives, and composites; as well as printing. Large-scale industrial applications of ionizing radiation started in the late 1950s, when Raychem introduced the production of polyethylene heat-shrinkable tubing and W. R. Grace started to manufacture polyolefin packaging. At about the same time Goodyear and Firestone initiated investigation of modification of rubber compounds by electron beam irradiation for tire applications.1
