Aluminium Cable vs. Copper Cable
Aluminium Cable or Copper Cable? This is one of the many questions I am often asked. So, which is the best conductor, aluminium or copper? Let me answer it for you in this blog.
Copper Cable Advantages
- Low Resistivity: Aluminium cables have a resistivity 1.68 times higher than copper cables.
- Good Ductility: The ductility of copper alloy is 20%~40%, and the ductility of copper for electrical use is more than 30%.
- High Strength: The allowable stress at room temperature, copper is 7-28% higher than aluminium. Especially at high temperatures, the difference between the two stress is even greater.
- Fatigue Resistance: Aluminium cable is easy to break repeated bending, copper is not easy. Elasticity indicators, copper is also about 1.7-1.8 times higher than aluminium.
- Good Stability, Corrosion Resistance: Copper core oxidation, corrosion resistance. Aluminium is susceptible to oxidation and corrosion.
- High Current-Carrying Capacity: Due to low resistivity, copper-core cables with the same cross-section should have 30% higher current-carrying capacity than aluminium-core cables.
- Low Voltage Loss: Due to the low resistivity of copper core cable. In the same cross-section flow through the same situation, the copper core cable voltage drop is small. Therefore, the same transmission distance can ensure higher voltage quality; Or, in the allowed voltage drop conditions, copper-core cable transmission can reach a longer distance, which is conducive to the planning of the network, reducing the number of power supply points set up.
- Low Heating Temperature: In the same current, the same cross-section of the copper core cable heat generation is much smaller than the aluminium core cable, safer operation.
- Low Energy Consumption: Due to the lower resistivity of copper, copper cables have lower power losses than aluminium cables. This is conducive to improving the utilization of power generation and protecting the environment.
- Resistance to Oxidation and Corrosion: The connectors of copper-core cables are stable and do not cause accidents due to oxidation. When the joints of cables are unstable, oxidation may occur to increase the contact resistance, heating, and accidents may occur. Therefore, the accident rate of aluminium cable is much larger than that of copper cable.
- Convenient Construction:
- Copper-core cable flexibility, bending radius is small, easy to wear pipe
- Copper core cable fatigue resistance, good mechanical properties, creating conditions for automated construction.
Aluminium Cable Advantages
- Inexpensive: The price of copper when the price of aluminium is 3.5-4 times. The specific gravity of copper is 3.3 times that of aluminium. Therefore, aluminium cables are cheaper than copper cables and are suitable for low-cost projects or temporary use.
- Very Light Cable: The weight of aluminium cable is 40% of copper cable; construction and transport costs are low.
- Anti-oxidation, Corrosion-resistant: Aluminium reacts with oxygen in the air to produce an oxide film quickly, which can prevent further oxidation. Therefore, aluminium cable is the necessary material for high voltage, large cross-section, and large span overhead power transmission.
Summary:
Despite the fact that aluminium cables are cheaper, copper cables have outstanding advantages in power supply, especially in the field of underground cable power supply. The underground use of copper core cable power supply has a low accident rate, corrosion resistance, high reliability, and convenient construction and maintenance. This is the reason why I recommend you to use copper cables. KMCABLE specialized in copper cable production and exporting for over 10 years. Welcome to contact us if any requirements.
