Current Status Of Copper-Clad Steel Applications

Copper-clad steel composites are currently used in products with high mechanical strength requirements and relatively low electrical conductivity requirements. The most common applications include the following:

Copper-Clad Steel Composites For Coaxial Cables

The application of copper-clad steel in coaxial cables is mainly based on the "Skin Effect".

The skin effect is that the higher the frequency of the transmitted signal, the smaller the depth of signal penetration into the outer surface of the inner conductor.

Previously, when the pure copper wire was used as the inner conductor, although the use performance is very good, the copper in its central part did not play a role in the transmission of current. If a hollow copper tube is used instead of a solid copper wire to save copper, the copper tube will be deflated when the cable is bent, affecting the signal transmission.

The copper-clad layer of copper-clad steel wire can meet the depth requirement of coaxial cable for high-frequency signal transmission, and the steel core ensures the strength and bending resistance of the coaxial cable.

Copper-Clad Steel Composites For Grounding Systems

The grounding system is an important measure to ensure the safe operation of the power system, electrical equipment, and safety of personnel.

Domestic The grounding materials used outside are steel, galvanized steel, copper, and copper-clad steel. Carbon steel and galvanized steel are susceptible to soil corrosion. Pure copper resists soil corrosion well but is expensive. Copper-clad steel has better electrical conductivity than steel and better resistance to soil corrosion than galvanized steel.

According to some experts on pure copper and electroplated copper-clad steel in the soil environment corrosion behavior of the study shows that the average corrosion rate of copper-clad steel 1. 05g / dm²-a, than the average corrosion rate of pure copper 1. 01g / dm²-a slightly faster, but its strength is better than copper, so it is widely used in grounding devices.

Copper-Clad Steel Composites For Electrode

Because the steel core has a good heat resistance and the outer layer of copper has good electrical conductivity, copper-clad steel wire is also used as an electrode for electrical discharge processing instead of brass wire. However, there is a problem when processing steel, the area in contact with the copper layer melts and affects the processing accuracy.

Sunlight has solved this problem by applying a special surface treatment to the copper.

Copper-Clad Steel Composites For Overhead Tram Contact Wire

Overhead tram contact wire was used in the early days pure copper wire was used.

Due to its high strength, high electrical conductivity, wear resistance and lower specific gravity than pure copper, Sunlight has applied it to the overhead wires of railroads running at a high speed of 300km/h.

The copper-clad steel wire has a copper cross-sectional area of 61.6 mm² and a steel cross-sectional area of 44.8 mm². The conductivity of the wire is 60.2% IACS and the fluctuation propagation speed is 137m / s.

Compared with pure copper wire, the wear of copper-clad steel wire is almost no longer increased after the steel core is exposed in the wear area, which greatly improves the wear life of the overhead wire. Due to the strong bonding of the copper/steel interface and the fact that the area of the steel as the anode is larger than the copper as the cathode in galvanic corrosion, the corrosion rate is very slow.