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Materials Used For Making Electrical Fittings

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The materials used for making electrical fittings cover a wide range. The market is full of fittings made of variety of materials. But here we are discussing some important materials which are used widely and are very popular for making electrical fittings.

Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and the proportions of copper and zinc may be varied to obtain brass of different characteristics. It is a very useful alloy having a lot of applications in different fields. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity. It is also highly ductile and malleable. Due to these excellent properties brass is popularly used for making different types of electrical fittings like wires and cables, screws etc.

Two Classes of Brass
Brasses are divided into two classes. Alpha alloy and Beta alloys. The alpha alloys have lesser zinc proportions than beta ones. Alpha alloys have less than 37% Zinc, and the beta alloys have 37-45% zinc. Alpha alloys are ductile and can be cold worked. Alpha/beta or duplex alloys have limited cold ductility and are harder and stronger. CZ114 is a duplex or alpha/beta alloy.

Physical Properties of Brass

It is very hard and tough.
It has very high ductility thus fine wires can be easily stretched out of it.
It has high malleability as well which is helpful in making thin sheets.

Chemical Properties of Brass

It is a very good conductor of electricity so reliable for making wires and cables.
It is very good conductor of heat as well so used for making utensils.
It is highly corrosion resistance.

Properties of Brass used for Electrical Fittings

Good Electrical Conductivity: Brass is a very good conductor of electricity and thus it makes it a good option for making different electrical fittings.

Highly Ductile: Brass is very ductile in nature which make it useful for drawing electrical wires. Brass having varying compositions have varying ductility.

Corrosion Resistance: Brass has very good corrosion resistant properties which is useful in making electrical fittings. As the amount of zinc increases in alloys the corrosion resistant property of brass decreases.

Different Brass Electrical Fittings

Brass Neutral Links
Brass Bolts
Brass Inserts
Brass Anchor
Brass Washers
Brass Screws
Brass Nuts
Brass Round Nuts
Brass Pins

Stainless Steel
Stainless steel is a particular kind of steel which doesn't stain, corrode or rust as easily as general steel. It is an iron-carbon alloy with the content of chromium (Cr). The amount of chromium should be at least 10.5%. Earlier it was also known as corrosion resistant steel. There are different grades and surface finishes of stainless steel available today. To choose the correct one for particular applications is very important because each type has certain specific characteristics. There are almost 150 grades of stainless steel out of which fifteen are common.

Properties of Stainless Steel

Higher resistance to corrosion and oxidation: Stainless steel has high oxidation resistance in air at environment temperature. It is due to the addition of a minimum of 13% chromium by weight. Cr when exposed to oxygen forms a layer of oxide (Cr2O3) on the surface of steel and this layer keeps the steel always lustrous.

Low maintenance: Compared to other materials or specially alloys stainless steel have no maintenance cost.

Inexpensive: They are very cheap too.

Recyclable: It is hundred percent recyclable. An average stainless steel constitutes 60% recyclable materials.

Different Stainless Steel Electrical Fittings

Stainless Steel Switch
Stainless Steel Twin Socket
Stainless Steel Nut-Bolts
Stainless Steel Pins
Stainless Steel Inserts

Demand of Stainless Steel

The demand of stainless steel is very high in the global market and it is likely to continue in recent times.
Asia is the center of global market growth. Around 53% of the world's stainless steel is produced in this continent. Chinese steel production is about to rise from 3.8-4 million tonnes to 4.8 million tonnes in this year.
US stainless steel production is also about to rise in this and coming year.

Other Applications of Stainless Steel

Cookware
Cutlery
Hardware
Surgical instruments
Major appliances
Industrial equipment
In automotive and aerospace assembly
Building material in skyscrapers and other large buildings

Aluminum
Aluminium is one of the most widely used metals for manufacturing quality electrical fittings and connectors. This silvery and ductile metal has the symbol Al and atomic number 13.The metal is found naturally in bauxite ore and is known for its ability to resist corrosion and its light weight. Aluminium finds application in numerous industries for manufacturing a large variety of products.

Properties of aluminium used for electrical fittings

High electrical conductivity: Aluminium is a very good conductor of electricity and thus this makes it a good option for use in different electrical fittings and equipments.

Less weight: Aluminium is best known for its light weight and density. It has a density of 2.7 x 103 kg/m3 is almost 35% that of steel. This property makes it useful in diverse industries. Aluminium is also used in automotive industry as the demand for fuel efficiency increases. The metal has low weight and is almost one- third the weight of copper. This helps aluminium to carry twice as much electricity as copper, makes the wires lighter and thus requiring fewer support structures.

Good corrosion resistance: Aluminium has a good corrosion resistance, this makes it useful for making electrical fittings. This is attributable to a thin oxide film that is formed and protects the metal from oxidation.

Other properties
There are certain other properties of the metal which makes it useful in other application areas. These properites are:

Good toughness
Good surface finish
Good weldability and brazability · Good workability

Aluminium in electrical fittings
Aluminium and its alloys are widely used for manufacturing various electrical fittings and accessories. Aluminium alloy 6061 is also commonly used because of its properties. Some of the products and areas that make use of aluminium are:

Electrical energy distribution and transport cables
Overhead lines
Industrial cables

Other applications
The metal is used in different forms for manufacturing various products. It is also widely used in high-voltage overhead transmission and distribution lines and also many underground lines around the world. It has been one of the most economical metal that is used for transmitting electric power. Aluminium is used in a number of products like :

Electric lights
Motors
Appliances
Power systems
Electric lamps
Florescent bulbs
Television antenna
Satellite dishes
Aircraft and aerospace components
Bicycles
Brake components
Marine fittings
Transport
Valves
Couplings

Tags:- Fittings Materials, Materials For Electrical Fittings

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