Cable Expo 2024 Industry Insights: Pressure Testing of CCS Cable Conductors
For decades, Copperweld copper-clad steel (CCS) conductors have been widely used in power grids and utilities due to their excellent strength and elasticity. Cable Expo 2024 has learned that, in extremely harsh environments—whether in the frost-heave soil of substation grounding grids, atop poles in strong winds, or in the cold vacuum of space under relentless radiation—CCS conductors continue to operate efficiently. Over nearly 100 years of application, CCS has demonstrated exceptional reliability.
Recently, an engineering team received a request from a client to conduct laboratory tests comparing the bending fatigue durability of CCS products to equivalent current-carrying capacity copper conductors.
Breaking Load Testing in Conductor Manufacturing
Cable Expo 2024 understands that breaking load testing is highly effective in assessing the strength of conductors during manufacturing. Laboratories perform dozens of breaking load batch tests daily, but these tests can only measure the mechanical strength of individual linear components. Real-world wear and tear, however, involves extensive movement and a high degree of repetition.
Accurate Measurement: Bending Fatigue Testing
The accurate method to measure real endurance is through bending fatigue testing. This test measures the number of stress cycles a conductor can endure before a fracture is observed (180-degree bends).
In each test, five samples of each conductor (CCS and copper) are cut into two-foot sections, with one inch of insulation removed from both ends to connect to the bending fatigue tester. A Reed R8080 sound level meter is then connected to monitoring software to capture single-end chain fractures. To simulate the extreme stress sources many conductors encounter in the field, the laboratory conducted the standard 180-degree test, which includes bending 90 degrees to the left and 90 degrees to the right, forming a complete cycle.
Conclusion
The bending fatigue test concluded that Copperweld CCS conductors have a bending durability five times higher than equivalent copper samples.
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