Saturday, February 9, 2013

How is aluminium different from other metals? Keep reading to know more



The physical, chemical and mechanical properties of aluminium are quite similar to other metals such as steel, brass, copper etc. It shows the general basic properties as it can be melted, casted and formed in order to conduct electric current in the electrical equipment. Some of the properties prove to bebeneficial for aluminium such as given below:

  •  Light in weight – Aluminium weighs about a third of the weight of steel and this enables it to reduce dead weight and energy consumption and increases load capacity at the same time 
  • Resistance to corrosion –It naturally forms a protective layer that is resistant to corrosion. There are other ways to further improve the properties such as painting, anodising etc. 
  • Electric Connectivity – The metal is an excellent conductor for heat and electricity that makes aluminium a preferred metal for use in major power transmission lines 
  • Reflectivity – Aluminium is a good conductor of visible light and heat and is light in weight and hence, makes it ideal for use in light fittings 
  • Ductility –Having a low melting point, the metal is ductile and it enables the products made of aluminium to be formed close towards the end of its design 
  • Recyclability –Aluminium is 100% recyclable and can be used without any compromise on the quality. Also the process of melting only requires about 5% of the energy that is required in the production of primary metal needed initially in the process of recycling



Thursday, January 31, 2013

How is aluminium used in different industries?



Aluminium metal is available in abundance and is also 100% recyclable. One particular benefit that aluminium offers over copper is that it is much cheaper. The aluminium wires are lighter in weight and also have the property of being highly malleable. These properties have led to the extensive usage of the metal in industries that require a relatively inexpensive material and wiring that is highly – conducive in nature. Some of the applications are as follows:

Home appliances – The use of aluminium has been quite popular in 1960s and 1970s when other metals became expensive and everyone could not afford it. Some of issues starting occurring in terms of connection and the aluminium wire use in combination with other metals such as copper. But some of the innovations were introduced to handle such issues and hence, aluminium wiring has come into again.

Communications – The aluminium wire is used in coils, power cables and antennas. In order to further improve the properties of wiring, aluminium is used in combination with copper

Networking – The metal also helps in connections in computers (local area networks and wide area networks) to help in transmitting signals and in transferring information to others

Medical Science – the widespread use of ultra-sonography has led to high demand of diagnostic machines with aluminium wiring that helps in checking damage to the joints, vessels or any such internal organs

This shows that given the growing demand of aluminium, its demand is expected to increase further!

Aluminium cable manufacturers | Copper wire manufacturers

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Want to know how to use copper wires? Exploring its properties will help


While you will agree that most of the electrical appliances are made up of copper wiring, copper has many properties that enhance its value for use as a metal. Copper is an element that has a metallic lustre that enables it to shine like gold! The best part is that it doesn’t lose its shine easily and is much cheaper than gold, so anyone will afford it. It has been listed as among the top conductors of heat and electricity. The properties of copper also include – high resistance to corrosion, high ductility and it has a long shelf life.


Copper can be moulded into very fine wires with different levels of thickness. Copper has been in use in the telecom industry, which can-not sustain without copper wires. Different types of wiring such as bare brunched cables and brunched cables are used for optical or electrical cables. You may have heard about tinsel copper that is very flexible and is specially made for use in telecom industry as there is relatively less amount of flow of electric current. Tinsel copper is made up of a bundle of copper foils and this increases the surface area that helps to conduct electricity efficiently over long and short distances.

 
Other main uses include – jewellery design, deep water fishing activities, making ornaments, utensils, pieces of decoration etc. Copper is recyclable and this does not reduce its market value as well.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Copper can do wonders when used properly for cables and wires!



Copper is a very useful metal and fortunately it is available in abundance in many parts of the world. You will find that the copper wire is widely used in electrical equipment such as vacuum cleaners, electric motors in home appliances etc. Copper as a metal exhibits very important properties such as ductility, malleability, being a good conductor of heat and electricity. Talking about cable industries, copper is the core element used for wiring. At the time of extraction, copper is found with some other metals as well. Before it can be used in its original form, copper goes through a proper procedure of purification after extraction.

The metal is thick and therefore, it can behold a large amount of electricity. Also, it can hold both low and high voltage current in the wiring used for electrical equipment. The braided wire contains maximum amount of voltage primarily due to higher surface area. This is a reason that you will generally see a bunch of wires being used totransfer larger amount of electricity than single wires. Copper also gets a coating of tin through the tow processes:
  •  Electrolytic process – In this, the wire is coated with tin electronically and the coating is done evenly
  • Hot dip process –The wire to be coated passes through melted tin and the coating happens automatically 
It can be seen that there are many ways in which copper can be combined to use it on a wider scale.


 






Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Do not miss out the opportunity of using low cost aluminium for wiring

Aluminium wires have been widely used in homes, power grids for transmission of electricity, airplanes etc. This is especially useful in aircrafts as aluminium offers better conductivity to weight ratio than other metals such as copper. Do you that it was widely used in 1960s and 1970s? At that time it was available in small sizes so that they can be used in houses. In the 1960s, there was a specification of device which was called as CU/AL that was meant to be used with devices for aluminium wiring that was used for larger equipment. There was a standard with CO/ ALR to be used for standard switches for lights. 


You must have heard that gold and silver are the best conductors with little resistance. But these will be too expensive to be used for wiring! So the next best alternatives are copper and aluminium. Out of these two, aluminium is offering many advantages that are leading to its growing popularity. These include – lower costs, light in weight, lower transportation costs, higher flexibility, low corona effect etc.  

One of the common mistakes that people commit is joining of aluminium and copper wires. There is a possibility of galvanic pressure being generated that may make the connections unstable over a period of time. These two metals can be joined with the help of special connectors that prevent such unwarranted results. Many aluminium cable manufacturers use anti-oxidants to prevent corrosion of connection also.
Using aluminium cables with some care can reap huge benefits for users. Don’t you want to be one of them?