Basic knowledge of common busbar

Busbar refers to a product made of high conductivity copper (copper bars) and aluminum materials, used for transmitting electrical energy and having the ability to collect and distribute electricity. In the power system, the busbar connects various current carrying branch circuits in the distribution equipment together, playing a role in collecting, distributing, and transmitting electrical energy

Common busbar materials include copper, aluminum, aluminum alloy, and steel. Soft busbars are commonly made of multi strand steel cored aluminum stranded wires (overhead lines), hard busbars are mostly used for aluminum and copper bars, and tubular busbars are mostly used for aluminum alloys.
(1) Copper busbar:

low resistivity, high mechanical strength, strong corrosion resistance, but high price. Mostly used in places with high continuous working current, narrow location, and severe corrosion to aluminum but less corrosion to copper.
(2) Aluminum busbar:

It has a high electrical resistivity, 1.7-2 times that of copper, but is lightweight and cost-effective, making it a commonly used busbar.
(3) Aluminum alloy busbar:

divided into aluminum manganese alloy and aluminum magnesium alloy, with a tubular shape. Aluminum manganese alloy busbar has a high current carrying capacity, but its mechanical strength is poor. After adopting certain compensation measures, it can be widely used; Aluminum magnesium alloy has high mechanical strength, difficult welding, and low current carrying capacity, so its range of use is limited.
(4) Steel busbar:

high resistivity, strong mechanical strength, low price, 6-8 times that of copper. There is significant hysteresis and eddy current loss when used for AC power, so it is only suitable for small capacity circuits with operating currents greater than 300-400A.