Aluminum Bus Bar Vs Copper

Following years of copper being the material of choice for high power busbar trunking in the uk yet aluminium reigning supreme in the rest of the world schneider electric takes a look at the case for aluminium over copper busbar trunking at a time when cost of materials is having a significant impact on specification choices.

Aluminum bus bar vs copper.

Aluminum bus bar conductivity can be reduced depending on its alloying agents. But performance cost is high in aluminium bus. The underside is sealed so the bars can be safely mounted to conductive surfaces. Also aluminium has the less current carrying capacity as compared with copper.

This article presents a brief overview of ampacity charts for both copper and aluminum bus bar and shows how to interpret the data within. However these charts can only tell you so much. Al vs cu busbars. Covers protect the top of the bar and prevent accidental contact with live circuits.

The majority of al to cu connections are made by applying silver or tin plating to the joint areas of either or both of the conductors. Aluminium is more cheaper than copper and in case of bus bar there is no compulsion of space so we can also use more flatter or comparatively bigger bus bar rather than using a copper smaller and less flattered bus bar. In fact when comparing the two materials aluminum bus bar is twice as conductive as copper. These bars are tin plated copper and have stainless steel terminals.

Pure aluminum conductivity is approximately 65 0 of iacs international annealed copper standard. There are a number of considerations that need to be recognized beyond the figures given in the chart. Aluminium busbar current carrying capacity 0 8 busbar width thickness in amps. Now what do we do with the.

Aluminum bus bar conductivity is dependent on the alloy and temper. Understanding bus bar ampacity charts. The presence of hydrogen sulfide h2s in the atmosphere is of main concern for base metal cu and silver plating. The aluminium bus bar is cheaper than copper busbar but the resistivity of the aluminium busbar is high as compared with copper busbar.

Protect connections against corrosion. Also known as bus bars they serve as connection points between wires with ring or spade terminals.