160mm2 AAC All Aluminum Conductor 19/3.27 Bare Overhead Cable for Urban Distribution Lines

The 160 mm² AAC is a bare overhead conductor stranded from nineteen hard drawn 1350 aluminium wires of 3.27 mm diameter, giving a nominal area of 160 mm², an overall diameter of 16.4 mm and a calculated weight of 439.8 kg/km. Because it is all aluminium, the conductor has no steel core to add weight or to introduce a second metal into the assembly, and it is used where spans are short, supports are closely spaced and the electrical load sits at the end of a distribution feeder rather than on a long transmission tower line. In an urban network that means street-level pole routes between distribution transformers and service drops, conductor runs along building facades and connections between compact substations where a light, easy-to-handle bare conductor keeps pole loading and installation time to a minimum.

The first gain is mechanical: at 439.8 kg/km the 160 mm² conductor is light enough to be pulled by hand between close-set poles, so a two-man crew can string a street section without a tensioner or a heavy puller, and the poles and brackets do not need to be oversized for conductor weight. The second gain is electrical: the 19-wire construction gives a rated strength of 26.40 kN and a D.C. resistance at 20 °C of 0.1798 Ω/km, a combination that holds voltage drop within limits on the short feeders typical of town distribution while keeping sag predictable at normal stringing tension. The third gain is durability without maintenance: hard drawn 1350 aluminium forms its own protective oxide layer, so the conductor tolerates wet coastal air, dust and industrial atmosphere without galvanising to renew, and there is no zinc coating to fail and no steel core to rust from the inside out. Finally, the single-material construction simplifies jointing, since every connector, sleeve and clamp used on the route is rated for aluminium only.

The conductor begins as 1350 grade aluminium rod drawn down to 3.27 mm, with the drawing schedule set so the wire reaches the H19 temper consistently and keeps both its conductivity and its tensile strength across the whole coil. Wire diameter and surface condition are checked before stranding: laps, slivers, die marks and burrs are rejected at the machine, because a surface defect on a bare conductor becomes a stress raiser under aeolian vibration and, in polluted air, a starting point for localised corrosion. The nineteen wires are stranded concentrically with the lay length and the direction of lay controlled for the size, so the finished conductor stays round, the layers stay closed after cutting, and the ends do not open up when the crew prepares a compression joint. Completed lengths are checked for overall diameter, lay, weight and D.C. resistance, and a tensile test on the finished conductor confirms the rated strength of 26.40 kN before the drum is released. Production runs under an ISO 9001:2015 quality system with 100 % inspection before dispatch, and drum marking, printing and private labelling are arranged to the customer's schedule.

• Nineteen wire construction: 19/3.27 mm hard drawn 1350 aluminium wires give a round, closed, easy-to-joint bare conductor
• Light 439.8 kg/km: close pole spacing and manual stringing are practical without heavy pulling equipment
• Rated strength 26.40 kN: predictable sag and mechanical security on short urban spans
• D.C. resistance 0.1798 Ω/km: controlled voltage drop on distribution feeders and service connections
• All aluminium, no steel core: no galvanic corrosion and no zinc coating to renew over the service life
• Corrosion and weather resistant: oxide film protects the surface in humid, coastal and industrial air

Urban distribution feeders and street pole routes, service drops, connections between compact substations and distribution transformers, short overhead sections inside industrial estates, and temporary or rural supplies where the span between supports is limited. Selection should be checked against the calculated sag, the maximum wind and ice load for the area and the short-circuit level of the network.

Conductor is wound on wooden drums of an agreed length, with each flange marked with the model, size, stranding, length, standard and production batch. A packing list and inspection record travel with the shipment, and third-party inspection can be arranged on request. Drum lengths are planned so that the number of joints on each route is kept to a minimum.