Copper: The Powerhouse Conductor for Electrical Applications
Copper is a unique element and conductor predominantly used for electrical wiring dating back to when the telegraph was invented nearly 200 years ago. Almost half of all the copper mined per year is used to manufacture electrical wire and cable conductors, making it one of the most used metal conductors for electrical applications.
Why Copper?
Copper has the highest electrical conductivity rating of all non-precious metals, making it the best bang for your buck. Its high tensile strength, maximum amount of stress the wire can take without breaking, combined with its ductility, deformability under tensile strength, makes it ideal for various wiring systems. Not to mention copper has excellent creep characteristics, high corrosion resistance and easy to use solder-ability as well as a high thermal conductivity rating with a low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Typically, GII uses plated copper for our conductors because it’s cost competitive and has great electromechanical properties. For many applications, bare copper will do the job but there are circumstances that require conductors to have special properties. Here are some of the variations of copper wire and their features:
Note: When comparing copper-silver alloys to copper-tin alloys, copper-silver alloys have a superior tensile strength relative to the loss of conductivity, however copper-silver alloys cost more.
There are a multitude of different alloys GII has used to support our customers and customer requests. What can we do for YOU today?
