EVALUATION of THE JOINT RESISTANCE of COMPRESSED CONNECTORS IN ALUMINUM CABLES

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Suez Canal University, Egypt

2 Canal Company for Electricity.Egypt

Abstract

The conventional method for splicing cable that uses a hydraulic press to form a compression joint that connects the two ends of a cable is used in many countries using different types of hydraulic compression with different type of compressed tools shape. It is widely used in Egypt due to their simple construction, low cost and easy made, however, the reliability of the structure is quite suspected. Investigation shows that this kind of power connectors needs special treatment during installation and frequent replacement. This work is aimed to analyze the failed compressed connectors being collected from different cities and sites and compared its joint resistance with a new one. It was found that all failed samples have very   high connection resistance. Clearly high temperature has been occurred at each connector; Surfaces of most samples preserved obvious melting or welding appearance, some of the sample were even burnt out. Moreover, a calculation model of the long time behavior of electrical joints under high current load is given and the amount of Energy losses through the joints is calculated.

Keywords