Electricity Today T&D Magazine

Brief Background:

In the early 1900’s Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR) conductor was developed to replace copper wires, due to the war effort when copper was needed for munitions. In the 1970’s growing demand for electricity inspired the development of higher capacity Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSS) conductor. The ACSS conductor became known as the first “High-Temperature, Low-Sag” (HTLS) conductor. The design used the same steel core as ACSR (with improved galvanized coatings) and fully annealed aluminum so it could operate at higher temperatures and allow the delivery of more electric energy. While fully annealed aluminum is slightly more conductive than non-annealed aluminum, it is somewhat weaker, so overall conductor strength was slightly decreased. In the 1990’s a number of conductor manufacturers began using higher strength steel to make up the difference. Comparative data can be found in the chart below.

Something New:

In the early 2000’s, a handful of...