Conductor Material

Choosing the Proper Wire

Friday, March 4, 2011 1

Done by:
Khairul Anwar
 Content
1. What is a wire?

2. Different Materials

3. Factors of Selection

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Friday, March 4, 2011 2

Give an overview of the presentation. Covering three main areas in accordance to choosing a proper wire.

-First is the basic that one needs to know; “What is a wire?”.

-Second will be to acknowledge the different types of commonly used materials for wiring.
-Third will be the factors that affect the selection or the reasons to why those materials are used.
 What is a wire?
• Single string of metal
• Commonly cylindrical
• Uses
• bear mechanical loads
• carry electricity
• telecommunication signals
• Formed by drawing
• Standard sizes

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Friday, March 4, 2011 3

Physical description of wire, its function and how it is made.

-Types of cables (coaxial, single-core, multi-core, twisting)

-They come in standard sizes (AWG)
-Cylindrical (easy and cheap to manufacture)
-Cold or Hot drawing
 Different Materials
• Only some are made into wires
• Common materials
• copper
• aluminum
• gold
• silver
• bronze

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Friday, March 4, 2011 4

Highlighting the different materials, noting that not all metals are used as conductors.

-Copper; having high ductility, good conductivity and a relatively cheaper price tag, is the most commercially used
wire.
-Aluminum; used mostly on aircrafts, as it is able to give good conductivity at relatively lesser weight
-Gold; an expensive metal, used mostly as a plating to prevent conductor from oxidizing and also aesthetics.
-Silver; the best electrical conductor with a hefty price tag, but still cheaper than gold.
-Bronze; an alloyed copper, having much stronger strength without a big jump in price.

So why these materials and not others? (generally)

 Factors of Selection
• Type of application
• Weight
• copper is lighter than aluminum
• better conductivity than aluminum

• Environmental temperature
• Cost of production

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Friday, March 4, 2011 5

To give some key points that affect material selection for conductors.

-Depends on (above list). Different applications will constitute to differing priorities upon the properties of various
materials.
-Example: If the ability to withstand a high working temperature an essential attribute that a conductor needs to
have, then that will be the main basis upon the selection among different materials. Followed by everything else,
like costs, weight, etc.
 Factors of Selection
• Conductivity
• Flexibility
• Corrosion resistivity

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Friday, March 4, 2011 6

To give some key points that affect material selection for conductors.

-Like this power-line, what do you think is the most important factor when choosing the conductor for such an
application? Cost? Strength of wires? Corrosion resistivity? Flexibility? Conductivity?
-It all boils down to the primary function, which affects selection based upon the conductor’s primary attribute.
 References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/electrical_wiring

• http://www.lunarpedia.org/index.php?title=Electrical_Conductors

Friday, March 4, 2011 7

Prove validity.
 Thank You

Friday, March 4, 2011 8

Any feedback or questions?