Various Types of Electrical Cable Conductor

Without a Conductor, it’s not an Electrical Cable. In the market, you will find different types of electrical cables with very few types of conductors. In this post, we will learn Various Types of Electrical Cable Conductor.

What is Electrical Conductor:

The material, which resists a few portions of current flow known as conducting material. But when it used in a bare strand or solid material then its called conductor. Mainly conducting material used for transmission or the distribution of electric power. For this reason, the conducting material must have these following characteristics

1. Should Have High Conductivity i.e. low specific resistance.
2. Must be High Tensile Strength in the Oder to Withstand Mechanical Stress.
3. Always Low Specific Gravity in the Oder to give low weight Per Unit Volume.

Some conductor materials are bellows,

Copper

Aluminium

Steel

Steel Core Aluminium

Galvanized Steel

Now I am going to give you a brief discussion about some most useful conductors.

Related: Electrical Cable Classification and Specification

Standard Hard Drawn Copper:

This copper conductor has high conductivity and very low specific resistance. Though the hard drawing (Cold Rolling and Drawing) always reduces the conductivity slightly but it increases the tensile strength of the conductor. Copper is weightier than the aluminium. For this reason, the maintenance cost for the transmission line is very much lower for the copper conductor but the installation cost is very high than aluminium.

Aluminium Conductor:

It’s true that aluminium is cheaper in cost and lighter in weight but poor in conductivity and also tensile strength. The maintenance cost is higher but easiest. Installation cost is lower but system loss is higher. But for long distance and heavy current transmission overhead line aluminium conductor is more suitable than the copper conductor.

Galvanized Steel Conductor:

Galvanized iron and steel conductors cable have been used for extremely long spans. Galvanized is mainly used to prevent rusting and electric corrosion. Here cheapness is the main consideration

• Tensile Strength is Much Higher
• But Poor Conductivity
• Also Subject to Eddy Current & Hysteresis.

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