Is aluminum electrical wire used on aircraft?












8












$begingroup$


Aluminum electrical wire got a bit of a bad reputation in household wiring due to reacting badly with terminals not properly rated for aluminum. Properly handled, it works fine, but it's so distrusted for small branch circuits that distributors won't even stock it.



Aluminum is a worse conductor than copper, by almost half. But that only considers it by volume (e.g. Wire diameter). By mass, the advantage swings back to aluminum. Nearly twice the ampacity for the same weight. Where would that matter? Aircraft.



Transport class aircraft are increasingly electrical, like the bleedless 787 where electrical does much of the heavy lifting.



Is aluminum wire actively used in aviation? Or is it "taboo" like it is with houses?






electrical-system







share|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Probably even more taboo than with houses, as aluminum doesn't handle vibrations very well. Copper is more ductile.
    $endgroup$
    – vidarlo
    3 hours ago
















8












$begingroup$


Aluminum electrical wire got a bit of a bad reputation in household wiring due to reacting badly with terminals not properly rated for aluminum. Properly handled, it works fine, but it's so distrusted for small branch circuits that distributors won't even stock it.



Aluminum is a worse conductor than copper, by almost half. But that only considers it by volume (e.g. Wire diameter). By mass, the advantage swings back to aluminum. Nearly twice the ampacity for the same weight. Where would that matter? Aircraft.



Transport class aircraft are increasingly electrical, like the bleedless 787 where electrical does much of the heavy lifting.



Is aluminum wire actively used in aviation? Or is it "taboo" like it is with houses?






electrical-system







share|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Probably even more taboo than with houses, as aluminum doesn't handle vibrations very well. Copper is more ductile.
    $endgroup$
    – vidarlo
    3 hours ago














8












8








8





$begingroup$


Aluminum electrical wire got a bit of a bad reputation in household wiring due to reacting badly with terminals not properly rated for aluminum. Properly handled, it works fine, but it's so distrusted for small branch circuits that distributors won't even stock it.



Aluminum is a worse conductor than copper, by almost half. But that only considers it by volume (e.g. Wire diameter). By mass, the advantage swings back to aluminum. Nearly twice the ampacity for the same weight. Where would that matter? Aircraft.



Transport class aircraft are increasingly electrical, like the bleedless 787 where electrical does much of the heavy lifting.



Is aluminum wire actively used in aviation? Or is it "taboo" like it is with houses?






electrical-system







share|improve this question









$endgroup$




Aluminum electrical wire got a bit of a bad reputation in household wiring due to reacting badly with terminals not properly rated for aluminum. Properly handled, it works fine, but it's so distrusted for small branch circuits that distributors won't even stock it.



Aluminum is a worse conductor than copper, by almost half. But that only considers it by volume (e.g. Wire diameter). By mass, the advantage swings back to aluminum. Nearly twice the ampacity for the same weight. Where would that matter? Aircraft.



Transport class aircraft are increasingly electrical, like the bleedless 787 where electrical does much of the heavy lifting.



Is aluminum wire actively used in aviation? Or is it "taboo" like it is with houses?






electrical-system




electrical-system






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 3 hours ago









HarperHarper

3,969722




3,969722












  • $begingroup$
    Probably even more taboo than with houses, as aluminum doesn't handle vibrations very well. Copper is more ductile.
    $endgroup$
    – vidarlo
    3 hours ago


















  • $begingroup$
    Probably even more taboo than with houses, as aluminum doesn't handle vibrations very well. Copper is more ductile.
    $endgroup$
    – vidarlo
    3 hours ago
















$begingroup$
Probably even more taboo than with houses, as aluminum doesn't handle vibrations very well. Copper is more ductile.
$endgroup$
– vidarlo
3 hours ago




$begingroup$
Probably even more taboo than with houses, as aluminum doesn't handle vibrations very well. Copper is more ductile.
$endgroup$
– vidarlo
3 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2












$begingroup$

Cable is not just the metal wire. It's also insulation, installation, cable channels, extra space at tight bends where cable flexibility is insufficient, and maintenance of said cable. Aluminum corrodes in a lot of conditions and happens to be one of the most fatigue-susceptible metals.



For these reasons, most aircraft wiring is copper and silver-plated or nickel-plated copper. Such wiring is reliable even under imperfect conditions.



But there are cases where different considerations prevail. Sometimes it's just the need to have some minimum cable thickness, for mechanical and handling reasons. Other times it's very thick wire that is easy to install in a reliable way even with aluminum.



So there is some steel, copper-nickel plated aluminum, similarly plated steel, and pure aluminum wiring in aircraft. Until recently, the latter has been mostly avoided for reliability reasons. Currently there is enough confidence in quality management and maintenance that aluminum wiring is getting more use in attempts to save some weight. Such savings will always come at the cost of more stringent maintenance requirements.



Specific percentages vary widely, but generally non-copper wiring accounts for more than 10% and less than 50% of overall wire weight in a production aircraft.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













    Your Answer





    StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
    return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
    StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
    StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
    });
    });
    }, "mathjax-editing");

    StackExchange.ready(function() {
    var channelOptions = {
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "528"
    };
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
    createEditor();
    });
    }
    else {
    createEditor();
    }
    });

    function createEditor() {
    StackExchange.prepareEditor({
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader: {
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    },
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    });


    }
    });














    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function () {
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faviation.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f61510%2fis-aluminum-electrical-wire-used-on-aircraft%23new-answer', 'question_page');
    }
    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes








    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    2












    $begingroup$

    Cable is not just the metal wire. It's also insulation, installation, cable channels, extra space at tight bends where cable flexibility is insufficient, and maintenance of said cable. Aluminum corrodes in a lot of conditions and happens to be one of the most fatigue-susceptible metals.



    For these reasons, most aircraft wiring is copper and silver-plated or nickel-plated copper. Such wiring is reliable even under imperfect conditions.



    But there are cases where different considerations prevail. Sometimes it's just the need to have some minimum cable thickness, for mechanical and handling reasons. Other times it's very thick wire that is easy to install in a reliable way even with aluminum.



    So there is some steel, copper-nickel plated aluminum, similarly plated steel, and pure aluminum wiring in aircraft. Until recently, the latter has been mostly avoided for reliability reasons. Currently there is enough confidence in quality management and maintenance that aluminum wiring is getting more use in attempts to save some weight. Such savings will always come at the cost of more stringent maintenance requirements.



    Specific percentages vary widely, but generally non-copper wiring accounts for more than 10% and less than 50% of overall wire weight in a production aircraft.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$


















      2












      $begingroup$

      Cable is not just the metal wire. It's also insulation, installation, cable channels, extra space at tight bends where cable flexibility is insufficient, and maintenance of said cable. Aluminum corrodes in a lot of conditions and happens to be one of the most fatigue-susceptible metals.



      For these reasons, most aircraft wiring is copper and silver-plated or nickel-plated copper. Such wiring is reliable even under imperfect conditions.



      But there are cases where different considerations prevail. Sometimes it's just the need to have some minimum cable thickness, for mechanical and handling reasons. Other times it's very thick wire that is easy to install in a reliable way even with aluminum.



      So there is some steel, copper-nickel plated aluminum, similarly plated steel, and pure aluminum wiring in aircraft. Until recently, the latter has been mostly avoided for reliability reasons. Currently there is enough confidence in quality management and maintenance that aluminum wiring is getting more use in attempts to save some weight. Such savings will always come at the cost of more stringent maintenance requirements.



      Specific percentages vary widely, but generally non-copper wiring accounts for more than 10% and less than 50% of overall wire weight in a production aircraft.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$
















        2












        2








        2





        $begingroup$

        Cable is not just the metal wire. It's also insulation, installation, cable channels, extra space at tight bends where cable flexibility is insufficient, and maintenance of said cable. Aluminum corrodes in a lot of conditions and happens to be one of the most fatigue-susceptible metals.



        For these reasons, most aircraft wiring is copper and silver-plated or nickel-plated copper. Such wiring is reliable even under imperfect conditions.



        But there are cases where different considerations prevail. Sometimes it's just the need to have some minimum cable thickness, for mechanical and handling reasons. Other times it's very thick wire that is easy to install in a reliable way even with aluminum.



        So there is some steel, copper-nickel plated aluminum, similarly plated steel, and pure aluminum wiring in aircraft. Until recently, the latter has been mostly avoided for reliability reasons. Currently there is enough confidence in quality management and maintenance that aluminum wiring is getting more use in attempts to save some weight. Such savings will always come at the cost of more stringent maintenance requirements.



        Specific percentages vary widely, but generally non-copper wiring accounts for more than 10% and less than 50% of overall wire weight in a production aircraft.






        share|improve this answer











        $endgroup$



        Cable is not just the metal wire. It's also insulation, installation, cable channels, extra space at tight bends where cable flexibility is insufficient, and maintenance of said cable. Aluminum corrodes in a lot of conditions and happens to be one of the most fatigue-susceptible metals.



        For these reasons, most aircraft wiring is copper and silver-plated or nickel-plated copper. Such wiring is reliable even under imperfect conditions.



        But there are cases where different considerations prevail. Sometimes it's just the need to have some minimum cable thickness, for mechanical and handling reasons. Other times it's very thick wire that is easy to install in a reliable way even with aluminum.



        So there is some steel, copper-nickel plated aluminum, similarly plated steel, and pure aluminum wiring in aircraft. Until recently, the latter has been mostly avoided for reliability reasons. Currently there is enough confidence in quality management and maintenance that aluminum wiring is getting more use in attempts to save some weight. Such savings will always come at the cost of more stringent maintenance requirements.



        Specific percentages vary widely, but generally non-copper wiring accounts for more than 10% and less than 50% of overall wire weight in a production aircraft.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited 2 hours ago

























        answered 2 hours ago









        TheracTherac

        5,9031526




        5,9031526






























            draft saved

            draft discarded




















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Aviation Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid …



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faviation.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f61510%2fis-aluminum-electrical-wire-used-on-aircraft%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            -

            Popular posts from this blog

            How to label and detect the document text images

            Image
            1 $begingroup$ This is what I mean as document text image: I want to label the texts in image as separate blocks and my model should detect these labels as classes. NOTE: This is how the end result should be like: The labels like Block 1, Block 2, Block 3,.. should be Logo, Title, Date,.. Others, etc. Work done: First approach : I tried to implement this method via Object Detection, it didn't work. It didn't even detect any text. Second approach : Then I tried it using PixelLink. As this model is build for scene text detection, it detected each and every text in the image. But this method can detect multiple lines of text if the threshold values are increased. But I have no idea how do I add labels to the text blocks. PIXEL_CLS_WEIGHT_all_ones = 'PIXEL_CLS_WEIGHT_all_ones' PIXEL_C...
            Read more

            Vallis Paradisi

            Image
            Coordinata: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap} 33°03′S 71°37′W  /  33.05°S 71.617°W  / -33.05; -71.617 Vallis Paradisi Res apud Vicidata repertae: Civitas : Chilia Numerus incolarum : 296 655 Zona horaria : UTC-4 Situs interretialis Nomen officiale : Valparaíso Gubernium Consilium : municipal council of Valparaíso Geographia Superficies : 401 600 000 Metrum quadratum Coniunctiones urbium Urbes gemellae : Ovetum , Badalona , Santa Fe , Ora longa , Sciamhaevum , Quantunia , Callao , Bat Yam , Melaka , Novorossiysk , Busan , Corduba , Odessa , Rosario , Malacca , Barcino , Soteropolis , Franciscopolis (California) , Guanajuato, Silao Tabula aut despectus Despectus in portum sinumque et urbem Vallis Paradisi Vallis Para...
            Read more

            Tabula Rosettana

            Image
            Tabula multilinguis Rosettana in Museo Britannico ostenditur. Tabula Rosettana, [1] etiam titulo OGIS 90 agnita, est stela decreto de rebus sacris in Aegypto anno 196 a.C.n. lato inscripta. Tabula iuxta Rosettam Aegypti, urbem in delta Nili et ad oram maris Mediterranei iacentem, anno 1799 a milite Francico reperta est. Inventio stelae, linguis duabus scripturisque tribus inscriptae, eruditis Instituti Aegypti statim nuntiata est; ibi enim iussu imperatoris Napoleonis eruditi omnium scientiarum (sub aegide Commissionis Scientiarum et Artium) properaverant cum expeditione Francica. Qua a Britannis mox debellata, tabula Rosettana Londinium missa hodie apud Museum Britannicum iacet. Textus Graecus cito lectus interpretationi textuum Aegyptiorum (in formis hieroglyphica et demotica expressorum) gradatim adiuvit. Denique textum plene interpretatus est Ioannes Franciscus Champollion. Ab opere eruditorum cumulativo coepit hodiernus scripturae hieroglyphicae linguaeque Aegyptiae a...
            Read more