• KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    to my knowledge, the only place they use aluminum as a conductor is in overhead external transmission lines, because you can wrap them around a steel or fiberglass/carbon fiber core (due to the skin effect this incurs minimal losses) while increasing strength and reducing weight (with the composites at least)

    the secondary reason is because you can just use more aluminum, since it’s not nearly as dense as copper, and also allows you to string farther, since again, not nearly as dense.

    most aluminum wiring is actually cladded in copper, it’s called CCA for what should be fairly obvious reasons.

    Also i believe the oxide coating of aluminum isn’t conductive? The bare material itself is, but once it oxidizes it’s probably not a good conductor, this is why we use shit like gold plated contacts. Copper also oxidizes as well, but it’s not nearly as bad.

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      Aluminium is a better conductor than copper by weight, but not cross sectional area. It’s used in aerial conductors because the weight is more important than the diameter. And it’s cheaper.