Wire and cable products are primarily categorized into five major groups:
Bare Wires and Bare Conductor Products
The main characteristics of this product category are: they consist of pure conductor metal with no insulation or sheathing layers-examples include steel-reinforced aluminum stranded conductors, copper and aluminum busbars, and power locomotive cables. The primary manufacturing processes involve pressure working, such as smelting, rolling, drawing, and stranding (including compacted stranding). These products are predominantly utilized in suburban and rural areas, for user-side main lines, and within switchgear assemblies.
Power Cables
The main characteristics of this product category are: an insulation layer is extruded (or wrapped) over the conductor-such as in insulated overhead cables; alternatively, multiple cores are stranded together (corresponding to the phase, neutral, and ground wires of a power system)-such as in multi-core insulated overhead cables; or, an additional sheathing layer is applied-such as in plastic-sheathed or rubber-sheathed wires and cables. Key manufacturing processes include drawing, stranding, insulation extrusion (or wrapping), cabling, armoring, and sheathing extrusion; the specific combination of these processes varies depending on the particular product type.
These products are primarily used for the transmission of high-voltage electrical energy within power generation, distribution, transmission, transformation, and supply networks. They are designed to handle substantial currents (ranging from tens of amperes to several thousand amperes) and high voltages (ranging from 220V up to 500kV and beyond).
Wires and Cables for Electrical Equipment
The main characteristics of this product category are: a vast array of varieties and specifications, and an extremely broad scope of application. They are most frequently utilized at voltages of 1kV or lower. Furthermore, new products are continuously being developed to meet the demands of specialized environments-examples include fire-resistant cables, flame-retardant cables, low-smoke zero-halogen (LSZH) or low-smoke low-halogen cables, termite-proof and rodent-proof cables, oil-resistant/cold-resistant/heat-resistant/abrasion-resistant cables, cables for medical/agricultural/mining applications, and thin-wall wires.
Communication Cables and Optical Fibers (Brief Introduction)
Driven by the rapid advancements in the telecommunications industry over the past two decades, products in this category have experienced astonishing growth. They have evolved from the simple telephone and telegraph wires of the past into sophisticated systems comprising multi-pair telephone cables (with thousands of pairs), coaxial cables, optical fiber cables, data cables, and even composite communication cables.
Typically, the structural dimensions of products in this category are relatively small and uniform, and their manufacturing requires a high degree of precision.
Magnet Wire (Winding Wire)
Primarily used in various motors, instruments, and meters.
