American Wire Gauge
American Wire Gauge , AWG for short , also known as Brown & Sharpe wire gauge in English-speaking countries , is a coding for wire diameters and is mainly used in North America. In the context of the internationalization of the manufacture of technical products that is associated with globalization , coding is an issue in numerous other industrialized countries . It identifies electrical lines made of stranded wire and solid wire and is mainly used in electrical engineering to denote the cross-section of wires . The system was introduced in 1857 by Joseph Rogers Brown (1810–1876) at Brown & Sharpe .
Derivation
The American Wire Gauge system is based on the manufacturing process of wires and expresses the number of drawing steps of the wire. Because ( copper ) wire solidifies during drawing, there is a risk of tearing above a limit value. Therefore, the amount of pulling is limited. The wire can only be drawn further after heat treatment ( soft annealing ). With every pull - while the volume remains the same - the wire becomes thinner and longer.
The diameters are specified for two stages:
size | diameter | |
---|---|---|
Inch (Inch ") | mm | |
0000 AWG (4/0 AWG) |
0.46 | 11.68 |
36 AWG | 0.005 | 0.127 |
The ASTM B 258-02 standard defines the diameter ratio of consecutive AWG sizes as:
The formula for calculating the diameter from the AWG number a can be derived from this:
or.
The standard specifies that the diameters in the tables should not contain more than four significant digits in relation to the unit inch . The resolution should be 0.1 mil for 44 AWG and 0.01 mil for 45 AWG in ascending order.
The AWG number a is calculated from the diameter by:
Negative AWG values are also possible, written as 00 AWG, 000 AWG and 0000 AWG (0.46 ″).
Multi-stranded and finely stranded cables ( strands ) have an overall diameter that is 13% to 14% larger due to the cavities between the adjacent (round) individual wires.
Table for AWG wires (solid conductors)
The following table shows the conversion to length units using the above formula .
(1 inch = 25.4 mm; 1 kcmil = 0.5067 mm²)
The specific resistance of copper was assumed to be 0.0178 Ω mm² / m.
Preferred sizes are highlighted. The cross-sections given as equivalent are the replacement types recommended by European manufacturers in the usual metric increments.
AWG | diameter | cross-section | R (Ω / km) |
Metric
Equivalent (mm²) |
SWG | BWG
(Stubs) |
W&M | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
inch | mm | kcmil | mm² | ||||||
0000 (4/0) | 0.460 | 11.68 | 212 | 107.2 | 0.166 | 120 | |||
000 (3/0) | 0.410 | 10.40 | 168 | 85.01 | 0.209 | 95 | |||
00 (2/0) | 0.365 | 9.266 | 133 | 67.43 | 0.264 | 70 | |||
0 (1/0) | 0.325 | 8.25 | 106 | 53.49 | 0.333 | ||||
1 | 0.289 | 7.35 | 83.7 | 42.40 | 0.42 | 50 | |||
2 | 0.258 | 6.54 | 66.4 | 33.62 | 0.529 | 35 | |||
3 | 0.229 | 5.83 | 52.6 | 26.67 | 0.667 | ||||
4th | 0.204 | 5.19 | 41.7 | 21.15 | 0.842 | 25th | |||
5 | 0.182 | 4.62 | 33.1 | 16.75 | 1.06 | ||||
6th | 0.162 | 4.11 | 26.2 | 13.30 | 1.34 | 16 | 8th | ||
7th | 0.144 | 3.67 | 20.8 | 10.55 | 1.69 | 9 | |||
8th | 0.128 | 3.26 | 16.5 | 8.37 | 2.13 | 10 | 10 | ||
9 | 0.114 | 2.91 | 6.63 | 2.68 | |||||
10 | 0.102 | 2.59 | 10.4 | 5.26 | 3.38 | 6th | |||
11 | 0.0907 | 2.30 | 4.17 | 4.27 | |||||
12 | 0.0808 | 2.05 | 6.53 | 3.31 | 5.38 | 4th | 14th | 14th | |
13 | 0.0720 | 1.83 | 2.62 | 6.78 | 15th | 15th | 15th | ||
14th | 0.0641 | 1.63 | 4.11 | 2.08 | 8.55 | 2.5 | 16 | ||
15th | 0.0571 | 1.45 | 1.65 | 10.8 | |||||
16 | 0.0508 | 1.29 | 2.58 | 1.31 | 13.6 | 1.5 | |||
17th | 0.0453 | 1.15 | 1.038 | 17.1 | |||||
18th | 0.0403 | 1.024 | 1.62 | 0.823 | 21.6 | 1 | 19th | ||
19th | 0.0359 | 0.912 | 0.653 | 27.3 | 0.75 | 20th | |||
20th | 0.0320 | 0.812 | 1.02 | 0.518 | 34.4 | 0.75 | 21st | ||
21st | 0.0285 | 0.723 | 0.410 | 43.4 | 0.5 | 22nd | 22nd | 22nd | |
22nd | 0.0254 | 0.644 | 0.64 | 0.326 | 54.7 | 0.34 | 23 | ||
23 | 0.0226 | 0.573 | 0.258 | 68.9 | |||||
24 | 0.0201 | 0.511 | 0.404 | 0.205 | 86.9 | 0.25 | 25th | 25th | 25th |
25th | 0.0179 | 0.455 | 0.162 | 110 | 26th | 26th | 26th | ||
26th | 0.0159 | 0.405 | 0.129 | 138 | 0.14 | 27 | |||
27 | 0.0142 | 0.361 | 0.102 | 174 | 28 | ||||
28 | 0.0126 | 0.321 | 0.0810 | 220 | 0.09 | ||||
29 | 0.0113 | 0.286 | 0.0642 | 277 | |||||
30th | 0.0100 | 0.255 | 0.0510 | 349 | 33 | 31 | |||
31 | 0.00893 | 0.227 | 0.0404 | 441 | 32 | 36 | |||
32 | 0.00795 | 0.202 | 0.0320 | 556 | 33 | 38 | |||
33 | 0.00708 | 0.180 | 0.0254 | 701 | 34 | 40 | |||
34 | 0.00631 | 0.160 | 0.0201 | 884 | 42 | ||||
35 | 0.00562 | 0.143 | 0.0160 | 1114 | 45 | ||||
36 | 0.00500 | 0.127 | 0.0127 | 1405 | 35 | 47 | |||
37 | 0.00445 | 0.113 | 0.0100 | 1772 | 41 | 50 | |||
38 | 0.00396 | 0.101 | 0.00797 | 2234 | 42 | 36 | |||
39 | 0.00353 | 0.0897 | 0.00632 | 2818 | 43 | ||||
40 | 0.00315 | 0.0799 | 0.00501 | 3552 | 44 | ||||
41 | 0.00280 | 0.0711 | 0.00397 | 4481 | 45 | ||||
42 | 0.00249 | 0.0632 | 0.00314 | 5666 | |||||
43 | 0.00222 | 0.0564 | 0.00250 | 7128 | |||||
44 | 0.00197 | 0.0500 | 0.00197 | 9052 | 47 | ||||
45 | 0.00176 | 0.0447 | 0.00157 | 11341 | |||||
46 | 0.00157 | 0.0399 | 0.00125 | 14252 | 48 | ||||
47 | 0.00140 | 0.0355 | 0.00099 | 18022 | |||||
48 | 0.00124 | 0.0316 | 0.00078 | 22726 | |||||
49 | 0.00111 | 0.0281 | 0.00062 | 28657 | |||||
50 | 0.00099 | 0.0250 | 0.00049 | 36137 | 50 |
Composition of stranded conductors
In the composition of multi-stranded conductors such as stranded wires , the electrical properties of the same AWG nominal sizes can differ considerably from one another and do not correspond to the above information for single-stranded conductors (solid wires). For example, the electrically effective cross-sections of stranded wire with the same AWG number are not the same as those of solid wire.
The structure of common stranded and fine-stranded conductors of the AWG system is shown in the following tables. Other compositions not listed here are possible.
Size AWG | 36 | 34 | 32 | 30th | 28 | 27 | 26th | 24 | 22nd | 20th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of single wires × AWG |
7 × 44 | 7 × 42 | 7 × 40 19 × 44 |
7 × 38 19 × 42 |
7 × 36 19 × 40 |
7 × 35 | 7 × 34 10 × 36 19 × 38 |
7 × 32 10 × 34 19 × 36 41 × 40 |
7 × 30 19 × 34 26 × 36 |
7 × 28 10 × 30 19 × 32 26 × 34 41 × 36 |
Size AWG | 18th | 16 | 14th | 12 | 10 | 8th | 6th | 4th | 2 | 1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of single wires × AWG |
7 × 26 16 × 30 19 × 32 41 × 34 65 × 36 |
7 × 24 19 × 28 26 × 30 65 × 34 105 × 36 |
7 × 22 19 × 27 41 × 30 105 × 34 |
7 × 20 19 × 26 60 × 30 165 × 34 |
37 × 26 49 × 27 105 × 30 |
49 × 25 133 × 29 655 × 36 |
133 × 27 259 × 30 1050 × 36 |
133 × 25 259 × 27 1666 × 36 |
133 × 23 259 × 26 655 × 30 2646 × 36 |
133 × 22 259 × 25 817 × 30 2109 × 34 |
designation | Single wires | cross-section | |
---|---|---|---|
number | size | ||
14 AWG 7/22 | 7 (stranded) | 22 AWG | 2.28 mm² |
14 AWG 41/30 | 41 (fine wire) | 30 AWG | 2.09 mm² |
Derived Applications
The designation of the AWG size (e.g. AWG 32) is required in wire wrap technology to determine the winding insert.
Even with many electronic plug-in connectors , the wire diameter is preferably specified in AWG. Compliance is particularly important with insulation displacement connectors.
criticism
The AWG system is based on a manufacturing process that existed at the time of development. It is unimportant for the user to know how often a wire is pulled; only the dimensions are interesting. AWG negates technological developments as well as future material science findings. The wire codings for wire drawing practice from the 1800s were introduced to meet the needs of users and are still in use in many countries today.
The USA in particular is ignoring the fact that it joined the Meter Convention in 1878 and is sticking to the AWG system. As a concession, only imperial units are converted into metric units. As a result, European manufacturers of electrical cables , connectors and crimp contacts , for example , are forced to manufacture special versions for the US market and adapt their product range accordingly.
For AWG stranded conductors, it is not sufficient to state the total size. Depending on the structure and manufacturer, there may be considerable deviations in the electrical properties, so the manufacturer's data sheet is required for realistic calculations.
Other wire codes
Internationally, cables are standardized according to the cross section of IEC 60228 .
In addition to the American Wire Gauge, there are Imperial Standard Wire Gauge (ISWG), also simply called Standard Wire Gauge (SWG), and Birmingham Wire Gauge (BWG), also called Stubs' Wire Gauge , which are also identified by a numerical code. Another wire coding is that of Washburn & Moen (W&M).
A separate coding, the drill wire gauge , is also still in use in Anglo-American countries for the starting material for drills . The range includes the range from # 107 with 0.0483 mm as the smallest to #Z with 10.4902 mm as the largest steel wire diameter.
Web links
- Copper in electrical engineering - cables and wires - DKI, Deutsches Kupferinstitut eV, 03/2000 (PDF; 635 kB, 42 p., Bibliography)
- Structural Wire Conversion Tables (Engl.)
- Conversion of cable diameter into AWG number and back
- Conversion table for gauge (PDF) in the English language Wikipedia
- Table AWG metric diameter / cross section SWG (German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ ASTM Standard B 258-02, page 4