
Copper-clad aluminium wire (CCAW or CCA) is a dual-metal
electrical conductor
In physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is an object or type of material that allows the flow of charge (electric current) in one or more directions. Materials made of metal are common electrical conductors. The flow of negatively c ...
composed of an inner
aluminium
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
core and outer
copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
cladding.
Production
A copper strip is formed into the shape of a cylinder, while it is being wrapped around an aluminum core and the edges of the copper strip are welded together. The assembly is then
pulled through a die, where the cladded wire is squeezed and stretched while also improving the bonding between the copper and the aluminum core.
Uses
The primary applications of this conductor revolve around weight reduction requirements. These applications include high-quality
coils, such as the
voice coil
A voice coil (consisting of a former, collar, and winding) is the coil of wire attached to the apex of a loudspeaker cone. It provides the motive force to the cone by the reaction of a magnetic field to the current passing through it.
Th ...
s in
headphones
Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an ...
or portable
loudspeaker
A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or, more fully, a speaker system) is a combination of one or more speaker drivers, an enclosure, and electrical connections (possibly including a crossover network). The speaker driver is an ...
s; high frequency coaxial applications, such as RF antennas and
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
distribution cables; and power cables.
CCA was also used in
electrical wiring
Electrical wiring is an electrical installation of Electrical cable, cabling and associated devices such as switches, distribution boards, sockets, and light fittings in a structure.
Wiring is subject to safety standards for design and in ...
for buildings. The copper/aluminium construction was adopted to avoid some of the problems with
aluminium wire yet retain most of the cost advantage. Its low copper content makes it unattractive to
copper thieves.
CCA is also seen in counterfeit
unshielded twisted pair
Twisted pair cabling is a type of communications cable in which two conductors of a single Electronic circuit, circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility. Compared to a Single-ended signaling, sin ...
networking cables. These cables are often less expensive than their full-copper counterparts, but
the official specifications such as
Category 6 require conductors to be pure copper. This has exposed the manufacturers or installers of cable with fake certification to legal liabilities.
Properties
The properties of copper-clad aluminium wire include:
* Less expensive than a pure copper wire
* Lighter than pure
copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
* Higher
electrical conductivity
Electrical resistivity (also called volume resistivity or specific electrical resistance) is a fundamental specific property of a material that measures its electrical resistance or how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity in ...
than pure
aluminium
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
* Higher strength than aluminium
* Electrical connections typically more reliable than pure aluminium{{Citation needed, date=December 2015
Disadvantages
* Easily sold as counterfeit
copper wire
Copper has been used in electrical wiring since the invention of the electromagnet and the telegraph in the 1820s. The invention of the telephone in 1876 created further demand for copper wire as an electrical conductor.
Copper is the electri ...
to unaware clients
* Much more prone to
mechanical fatigue failure than pure copper wire
* Gets much hotter than pure copper in case of severe overcurrent, such as short circuits, although this is not an issue for
code-compliant installations with proper
fuses or
circuit breaker
A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an Electrical network, electrical circuit from damage caused by current in excess of that which the equipment can safely carry (overcurrent). Its basic function is to interr ...
s.
Skin effect
The
skin effect
In electromagnetism, skin effect is the tendency of an alternating current, alternating electric current (AC) to become distributed within a Conductor (material), conductor such that the current density is largest near the surface of the conduc ...
forces
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...
to flow on the outer periphery of any wire; in this case, the outer copper cladding of the conductor which has
lower resistance than the mostly unused aluminum interior. The better conductor on the outer path causes the wire's resistance at high frequencies, where the
skin effect
In electromagnetism, skin effect is the tendency of an alternating current, alternating electric current (AC) to become distributed within a Conductor (material), conductor such that the current density is largest near the surface of the conduc ...
is greater, to approach that of a pure copper wire. This improved conductivity over bare aluminum makes the copper-clad aluminium wire a good fit for
radio frequency
Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the u ...
use.
The skin effect is similarly exploited in
copper-clad steel
Copper-clad steel (CCS), also known as copper-covered steel or the trademarked name Copperweld is a bi-metallic product, mainly used in the wire industry that combines the high mechanical strength of steel with the conductivity and corrosion re ...
wire, such as the center conductors of many
coaxial cable
Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ), is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner Electrical conductor, conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting Electromagnetic shielding, shield, with the two separated by a dielectric (Insulat ...
s, which are commonly used for
high frequency
High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the band of radio waves with frequency between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten decameters (ten to one ...
feedlines with high strength and conductivity requirements.
See also
*
Copper conductor
Copper has been used in electrical wiring since the invention of the electromagnet and the telegraph in the 1820s. The invention of the telephone in 1876 created further demand for copper wire as an electrical conductor.
Copper is the electri ...
*
Graphene-clad wire
*
Electroplating
Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the redox, reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct current, direct electric cur ...
*
Galvanization
Galvanization ( also spelled galvanisation) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are coated by submerging them in a bath of ...
References
Electrical wiring
Power cables
Aluminium
Copper