Stranded copper wire is composed of many small gauge wires in order to make a large conductor. Presence of thinner conductors makes the stranded wire more flexible and solid in comparison to the other wire of same diameter. With the strength, reliability and durability of copper wire the stranded wires have become preferred choice for the builders.
Moreover the stranded wire is more economical and is considered to be more flexible than the solid copper wires of similar cross-sectional area. The problem of mechanical ruggedness in the case of solid cable is also over come here because stranded copper wire has relatively lesser surface area that is been exposed to environmental corrosives. The stranded wire can be use with mush ease in the application and places that require bending and even the repeated bending. Owing to the superior flexibility stranded copper wire rates high when it comes to wiring the circuit boards, headphones or any other connections that requires moving joints as well as tight bends. Beside this they are typically used as the residential wire as the flexibility allows easy bending and can be pulled out easily by conduit.
The A.C. line cords, musical instrument cables, computer mouse cables, welding electrode cables, control cables connecting moving machine parts, mining machine cables, trailing machine cables are some of the electrical usage of stranded copper wire. Connections between the circuit boards in the multi -circuit-board devices demands more flexibility, here the rigidity of solid wire can produce stress and result in movement during assemble or servicing.
Tin coating on the copper and aluminium wire provides more durability and strength. In tinned copper wire each strand of copper wire is coated with tin. The manufacturing process can be either hot dipping or electroplating. In the prior each strands copper is dipped to the melted tin while in the process of electroplating the rectifier and electrical charge are used to tin the copper. The stranded wire has higher resistance in comparison to that of the solid copper of the similar diameter. This is due to the fact that cross-section of the stranded wire has unavoidable gaps in between the strands.
Hook-up, magnet, and resistance wire are the most popular kind of stranded wire. The magnet wire is used for the winding of electric motors, generators, speaker coils, transformers and inductors. However, most of the high-frequency applications that require proximity effect and better performance at high frequencies make use of stranded wire that can be insulated and twisted in the special patterns as well.
