What is Armoured cable?

In power distribution armored cable is often referred to as steel wire armored cable (SWA), which is a hard-wearing power cable designed for mains power supply.It is one of many armored cables including 11 kV cables and 33 kV cables found in underground systems,power networks and cable ducts. 

• Aluminum is also used in armor, where iron has historically been used.Armoring is also suitable for submarine communication cables.

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The typical construction of a SWA cable can be broken down as follows:

• Conductor:Consists of plain stranded copper wire (cables are classified to indicate degree of flexibility.Class 2 refers to rigid stranded copper conductors as defined by British Standard BS EN 60228:2005).

•  Insulation: Cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) is used in many power cables because of its good water resistance and excellent electrical properties.The insulation of the cable ensures that the conductors and other metallic objects do not touch each other. 

• Bedding:Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) bedding is used to provide a protective boundary between the inner and outer layers of the cable.

• Armoring: Steel wire armoring provides mechanical protection,which means that the cables can withstand higher stresses, for direct burial and for outdoor or underground applications.The armor is usually grounded and sometimes used as a circuit protective conductor ("earth") for cable-powered equipment.

• Jacket:A black PVC jacket holds all components of the cable together and provides additional protection from external stress.

• The PVC version of the above SWA cable meets the requirements of British Standard BS 5467 and International Electrotechnical Commission Standard IEC 60502.It is known as SWA BS 5467 cable rated at 600/1000 V.

• SWA cables may be more generally referred to as power cables, armored cables,power cables, and booklet armored cables. However, the name power cable applies to a wide range of cables including 6381Y, NYCY, NYY-J and 6491X cables.

Aluminum wire armored cable

• Steel wire armor is only used for multicore cables. As the name suggests, a multiconductor cable is a cable with many different conductors.When the cable has only one core, aluminum wire armor (AWA) is used instead of steel wire.This is because aluminum is non-magnetic.Current in a single-core cable creates a magnetic field.This induces a current in the wire, which can cause overheating.