Are aluminum alloy cables the best substitute for copper cables? To understand this problem, we need to understand the difference in performance, price, and usage ratio of aluminum alloy cables and copper cables. Now LINT TOP will discuss with you whether aluminum alloy cables are the best choice to replace copper cables.
What is aluminum alloy cables?
Aluminum alloy cables are cables with aluminum alloy wire as the conductor produced through a special process, using aluminum as the main conductor material, adding alloy elements such as copper, iron, magnesium, silicon, zinc, and boron.
What are the advantages of aluminum alloy cables over copper cables?
Improved conductor performance: Due to the addition of alloy elements to pure aluminum, the mechanical properties of aluminum alloy conductors have been greatly improved, and the bending, creep resistance and corrosion resistance have been enhanced.
Light weight: The conductivity of aluminum alloy is 61.5% of copper, and the current carrying capacity is 79% of copper. The weight of aluminum alloy cables with almost the same current carrying capacity is only 65% of copper cables, and transportation and the overall labor cost of engineering laying has also been significantly reduced.
Low price: The carrying capacity of aluminum alloy cables is about 79% of that of copper cables. When replacing copper cables with the same carrying capacity with aluminum alloy cables, generally increase the cross-sectional area of the copper cables by 1.5 times and choose aluminum alloy cables.
Compared with copper cables, aluminum alloy cables have unparalleled advantages over copper cables in terms of weight, price, laying and installation. In other words, under the premise of the same electrical properties and better mechanical properties, aluminum alloy cables have significant economic effects and have a wide range of applications.
Usage rate of aluminum alloy cables in Europe and the United States
Because of the superior performance and low price of aluminum alloy cables, and because aluminum alloy cables started early abroad, the usage rate of aluminum alloy cables in developed countries in Europe and the United States is as high as 90%. Our aluminum alloy cables in China started late, but have developed rapidly, with a rapid growth rate of 3-5 times in recent years. It is expected that my country's aluminum alloy cable market will develop rapidly in the next five years.
Disadvantages of aluminum alloy cables
Although aluminum alloy cables have many advantages, some problems cannot be ignored. The terminal blocks of aluminum alloy cables may not keep up with the demand for cables. Because of the particularity of aluminum alloy cable materials, the material selection, size, and the matching degree of the interface at the other end of the cable may cause some trouble during the laying construction process.
The fire resistance is low when a fire occurs. The fire resistance of the cable mainly depends on the conductor material. There are three types of cable conductors: copper, aluminum and aluminum alloy. The melting point of copper is 1083°C and the melting point of aluminum is 660°C. In general, the melting point of alloy materials are lower than pure ones, which means that the melting point of aluminum alloy is lower than that of pure aluminum. From the perspective of fire resistance, aluminum alloy has the lowest fire resistance compared to pure copper or pure aluminum. The specific use of aluminum alloy cables or copper cables should be determined according to the actual situation.
From the perspective of the scientific properties of metal materials, copper cables and aluminum alloy cables each have their own advantages and specialties. If you should use copper cables, you cannot use aluminum alloy cables. If you can use aluminum alloy cables, you should maximize the use of aluminum alloy cables. Cables are completely feasible in terms of electrical performance, mechanical performance, and economic performance, but whether to use copper or aluminum wires and cables should be determined by the design of the end use and the user based on the comprehensive technical and economic effects.
After the above introduction, LINT TOP believes that aluminum alloy cables are the best choice to replace copper cables. Although there are still some problems that cannot be ignored, throughout the history of cable development, copper cables have completed her maturity period, and The maturity period of aluminum alloy cables is coming soon.