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Specification Fosters Economical Manufacture of Single Input Wire Stranded Copper Conductors

A NEW SPECIFICATION will present an economical method of manufacturing single input stranded copper conductors used to deliver high-voltage electrical power to industrial and residential sites.

ASTM B 902, Standard Specification for Compressed Round Stranded Copper Conductors, Hard, Medium-Hard, or Soft Using Single Input Wire Construction, will apply to conductors that will be insulated for electric power delivery systems.

“It facilitates the manufacture of a stranded conductor that would have less process variability and reduced cost,” says engineer Steven Campbell, a high voltage technical development manager for Forte Power Systems, Inc., Heflin, Ala. Campbell is chairman of ASTM Subcommittee B01.04 on Conductors of Copper and Copper Alloys within Committee B01 on Electrical Conductors. He says only in the last 15 years has technology evolved that allows more economical manufacture of these products.

An B01.04 subcommittee task group of manufacturers and users produced B 902. It covers stranded conductors made from round copper wires, either uncoated or coated with tin, lead, or lead alloy for general use in insulated conductor assemblies for electrical purposes. Examples are THW, THHN, 600-volt UD cables, medium-voltage URD cables, and MV-90 power cables. It describes requirements for wires, joints, measurement, construction, as well as physical and electrical tests, and inspection.

The specification will be available August 1. For further technical information, contact Steven Campbell, Forte Power Systems, Inc., 6771 Hwy. 78, P.O. Box 518, Heflin, AL 36264. Committee B01 meets Oct. 26-27 in Orlando, Fla. For meeting or membership details, contact manager Felicia Quinzi, ASTM (610/ 832-9738). //