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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 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 ...
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.
An example of a copper alloy conductor is cadmium copper wire, which is used for railroad electrification in North America. [5] In Britain the BPO (later Post Office Telecommunications ) used cadmium copper aerial lines with 1% cadmium for extra strength; for local lines 40 lb/mile (1.3 mm dia) and for toll lines 70 lb/mile (1.7 mm dia).
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.
Power cables use stranded copper or aluminum conductors, although small power cables may use solid conductors in sizes of up to 1/0. (For a detailed discussion on copper cables, see: Copper wire and cable.). The cable may include uninsulated conductors used for the circuit neutral or for ground (earth) connection.
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 ...
Current-carrying capacity of wires The ability of a wire to carry electric current (its ampacity) is limited by two factors: The amount of voltage lost to electrical resistance in the form of V = IR voltage drop and; The amount of heating of the wire caused by the P = I2R power dissipated in the wire as a result of that voltage drop.