@@ -1,1 +1,1 @@ - +<br>Busbar vs cable: a case study In this article we'll take a look at both types of bus bars and cable assemblies, their respective pros and cons, and why one can prove to be a better choice than the other. As cable and bus bar systems are both used on large industrial equipment, the latter has often been considered to be the better choice, however, in the end it comes down to individual circumstances.<br><br><br>Busbar has been around as long as a half a century, and in its earlier days, trunking was no more than a series of busbars connected to one another with a series of metal-coated rollers. In some applications, such as large electrical systems, however, busbar was more versatile than cable. Today, though, busbar has become more conventional, and it is now used primarily to link up wires that are either very large or very sensitive in nature.<br><br><br>Busbar can be described as the standard arrangement of a series of interlocking bus bars. However, busbars can also be referred to as a 'basket' or a 'cable basket'. Most cable assemblies feature one or two rows of insulated copper or aluminum wires (usually terminated with a male connector) wound onto the inside of a basket-like structure. A single wire connected to a center conductor usually forms the innermost part of the basket. The outermost wire connects to the other two or more centers in the series.<br><br><br>To understand why a busbar cable assembly is a better option, you should understand how cables and other similar apparatus work. Unlike a traditional bus bar, cables do not consist of separate wires, but a single wire is wrapped round another and connected to the other, forming a continuous circuit. A cable assembly, then, consists of a series of wires wound together into one long and thin flexible bundle.<br><br><br>As mentioned, busbars were once nothing more than a series of copper or aluminum wires wound around a single center conductor, but today's busbar system is much more complex. With the introduction of newer materials, such as polypropylene, polyester, polystyrene, and carbon nanotubes, and the development of a whole new type of busbar called 'flexure' technology, the old style of wire wound 'busbar' has become obsolete. This busbar system is made up of a series of flexible wires wound upon a flexible busbar core and has a 'flexure' within it - this 'flexure' is designed to fit over a [https://www.rhibusbar.com/flexible_insulated_busbar/ flexible busbar] core, which is connected to a non-flexible metal (or sometimes plastic) shaft.<br><br><br>Flexure is a flexible plastic material, typically, that can be shaped to give the busbar shape of any desired shape. The busbar itself is often coated with a polypropylene or polystyrene coating so that the core and flexure are able to move up and down when exposed to pressure and flexes in the correct direction. Flexure is then fixed into place by a series of wires, the 'core' of which is fixed to a non-flexible shaft that goes through a small hole. These flexible wires are connected to the inner core, and the shaft is attached to another flexible cable. The outer flexible wire is then fixed to the flexible busbar, which in turn is attached to the outermost wire in the series.<br>