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However, AWG is dissimilar to IEC 60228, the metric wire-size standard used in most parts of the world, based directly on the wire cross-section area (in square millimetres, mm 2). The AWG tables are for a single, solid and round conductor. The AWG of a stranded wire is determined by the cross-sectional area of the equivalent solid conductor.
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 ...
Wire gauges may be broadly divided into two groups, the empirical and the geometric. The first includes all the older gauge measurements, notably the Birmingham gauge (B.W.G. or Stubs) and the Lancashire. The origin of the B.W.G. is obscure. The numbers of wire were in common use earlier than 1735 when the measurements were officially defined. [1]
0.7854 square mils (1 square mil is about 1.273 circular mils) 7.854 × 10 −7 square inches (1 square inch is about 1.273 million circular mils) 5.067 × 10 −10 square metres; 5.067 × 10 −4 square millimetres; 506.7 μm 2; 1000 circular mils = 1 MCM or 1 kcmil, and is (approximately) equal to: 0.5067 mm 2, so 2 kcmil ≈ 1 mm 2 (a 1.3% ...
For example, the United States National Electrical Code, Table 310.15(B)(16), specifies that up to three 8 AWG copper wires having a common insulating material (THWN) in a raceway, cable, or direct burial has an ampacity of 50 A when the ambient air is 30 °C, the conductor surface temperature allowed to be 75 °C. A single insulated conductor ...
A table of the gauge numbers and wire diameters is shown below. [1] [2] The basis of the system is the thou (or mil in US English), or 0.001 in. Sizes are specified as wire diameters, stated in thou and tenths of a thou (mils and tenths). The wire diameter diminishes with increasing size number.
For wire sizes smaller than AWG No. 2 (33.6 mm 2, 0.0521 sq in), this term is also generally regarded as insignificant. R c , a {\textstyle R_{c,a}} is the effective thermal resistance between the conductor and the ambient conditions, which can require significant empirical or theoretical effort to estimate.
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.