Study on the Characteristics of Metal-Coated Carbon Fiber and 0.6/1 kV Lightweight Cable.

In this study, 0.6/1 kV lightweight cable was manufactured using metal-coated carbon fiber (MCF) instead of metal, for utilization in low voltage cable shield screen. It was investigated the properties of MCF such as a fusing current, coating and so on. The epoxy and urethane sizing treatments were found to be effective in bundling, flexibility and fluff reduction. Braid MCF cables with 6,000 strands (6 K), 16 spindles, and braid density of 90% or more was adopted. By replacing the screen with MCF, the weight of the cable was reduced by approximately 62%. The fusing current of MCF was 7.4 A, but showed to be approximately 17 times lower than the cooper wire. The MCF cable braided with 6 K has a value of shield effectiveness about 50 dB and 60 dB from the frequency of 100 K to 100 MHz in accordance with IEC standard. In the cable connection, spring was added to the contact surface to reduce the resistance and fiber brittleness.