CONDUCTORS
This dominance is due to the excellent overall properties of aluminium and aluminium alloy conductors. Aluminium and aluminium alloy conductors offer good conductivity, light weight, excellent resistance to corrosion, good bending properties, greater tensile strength than copper and excellent compatibility with most common insulation used by the wire and cable industry. These conductors now command a significant share of the insulated, interior wire market particularly in the larger dimensions (i.e heavy current installations) where weight and ease of handling are important factors.
ALUMINIUM
This trend is due to their excellent overall properties. Principally these are listed as : 1. Conductivity In excess of twice that of copper by unit weight. 2. Strength A range of strengths from dead soft to that of mild steel,depending on the required temperature of aluminium alloy. 3. Workability Permitting a wide range of processing from wire drawing to stranding. This offers excellent bend quality.
4. Light Weight Ease of handling, low installation costs, longer spans and more distance between pullins. 5. Corrosion Resistance Most industrial, marine and chemical atmospheres cause corrosion. In addition, the corrosion resistance of all alloys can be further improved by anodizing. 6. Compatibility With Insulation Does not adhere to or combine with usual insulating materials. No tin-coating required: clean stripping.
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