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Comparison of SWG (red), AWG (blue) and IEC 60228 (black) wire gauge sizes from 0.03 to 200 mm² to scale on a 1 mm grid – in the SVG file, hover over a size to highlight it. In engineering applications, it is often most convenient to describe a wire in terms of its cross-section area, rather than its diameter, because the cross section is directly proportional to its strength and weight ...
For systems such as underground power transmission cables, evaluation of the short-term over-load capacity of the cable system requires a detailed analysis of the cable's thermal environment and an evaluation of the commercial value of the lost service life due to excess temperature rise.
Similarly, if two conductors are near each other carrying AC current, their resistances increase due to the proximity effect. At commercial power frequency , these effects are significant for large conductors carrying large currents, such as busbars in an electrical substation , [ 2 ] or large power cables carrying more than a few hundred amperes.
An electrical cable is an assembly of one or more wires running side by side or bundled, which is used as an electrical conductor to carry electric current. Electrical cables are used to connect two or more devices, enabling the transfer of electrical signals, power, or both from one device to the other. Physically, an electrical cable is an ...
Conductor sizes range from 12 mm 2 (#6 American wire gauge) to 750 mm 2 (1,590,000 circular mils area), with varying resistance and current-carrying capacity. For large conductors (more than a few centimetres in diameter), much of the current flow is concentrated near the surface due to the skin effect .
All electrical cables are somewhat flexible, allowing them to be shipped to installation sites wound on reels, drums or hand coils. Flexibility is an important factor in determining the appropriate stranding class of the cable as it directly affects the minimum bending radius. Power cables are generally stranding class A, B, or C.
A wire or cable has a voltage (to neutral) rating and a maximum conductor surface temperature rating. The amount of current a cable or wire can safely carry depends on the installation conditions. The international standard wire sizes are given in the IEC 60228 standard of the International Electrotechnical Commission.
One important property of the insulation which affects the current-carrying capacity of the wire is the maximum conductor temperature. This, in combination with the ambient temperature and ability of the environment to absorb heat, determines the amount of tolerable copper loss in the wire, and therefore its size in relation to the load current ...