With the continuous development of wire and cable markets, mergers and acquisitions and capital operations among large wire and cable companies have become more and more frequent, and excellent wire and cable at home and abroad are also constantly upgrading and improving according to customer needs and environmental requirements. However, copper-core conductor wires and cables and aluminum-core conductor wires and cables still cannot be used as substitutes. Through this article, let's take a look at the advantages of copper core wire and cable over aluminum core wire and cable?

Conductor selection

The conductor materials used for wires and cables are usually copper and aluminum. When the current carrying capacity is the same, the cross-section of the aluminum core is about 1.5 times that of copper. The loss of copper core is relatively low, the mechanical properties of copper are better than that of aluminum, and the ductility is good, which is easy to process and install. The fatigue strength is about 1.7 times that of aluminum. However, the specific gravity of aluminum is small. When the resistance value is the same, the quality of the aluminum wire core is only half of that of copper, and the aluminum wire is significantly lighter.

 

The material of the conductor should choose copper core cable or aluminum core cable according to the load nature, environmental conditions, market supply and other conditions.

Aluminum core cables are not suitable for use in the following places

1. It is necessary to ensure that reliable circuits are connected in long-term operation, such as important power supply, important operation circuit and secondary circuit, excitation circuit of motor, etc.;

2. The wiring of the mobile equipment and the wiring of the vibration place;

3. Environments that are corrosive to aluminum;

4. High temperature environment, humid environment, explosion and fire hazard environment;

5. Lines of emergency systems and fire-fighting facilities;

                                                 

Suitable for places where aluminum conductors are used as wires and cables

1. Overhead transmission lines;

2. IF lines with large cut-off;

3. An environment that is corrosive to copper and relatively light to aluminum.

The place where copper conductor wire and cable are used

1. Places where normal work needs to be maintained in the event of a fire;

2. Mobile electrical equipment or places with severe vibration;

3. Inflammable and explosive places;

4. Other places with special regulations.

                             

The advantages of copper core wire and cable compared with aluminum core wire and cable

                                 

1. Low resistivity: the resistivity of aluminum core conductor cable is about 1.68 times higher than that of copper core conductor cable;

2. Good ductility: the ductility of copper alloy is 20%~40%, the ductility of electrical copper is more than 30%, and the ductility of aluminum alloy is only 18%;

3. High strength: the stress at room temperature, copper is 7~28% higher than that of aluminum. Especially the stress at high temperature, the difference between the two is even greater;

4. Anti-fatigue: aluminum is prone to breakage after repeated bending, but copper is not prone to breakage. In terms of flexible policies, copper is also 1.7 to 1.8 times higher than aluminum;

5. Anti-oxidation, corrosion resistance and good stability: copper core is anti-oxidation and corrosion-resistant, while aluminum core is susceptible to corrosion and oxidation;

6. Large current carrying capacity: Due to the low resistivity, the copper core wire and cable with the same cross-sectional area is about 30% higher than the allowable current carrying capacity of the aluminum core wire and cable;

7. Low transmission current loss: Due to the low resistivity of copper core wires and cables, the voltage drop of copper core cables is small when the same current flows through the same section, and the same transmission distance can ensure higher voltage quality; Under the allowable voltage conditions, the copper core cable can transmit power to a long distance, that is, the power supply coverage area is large, which is conducive to the planning of the network and reduces the number of power supply points.