Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Study on the microstructure characteristics of melting marks in copper-clad aluminum wires under overcurrent faults

  • Published:
Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Copper-clad aluminum wires have a high risk of electrical fire, and welding marks are easily affected by factors such as high temperature and fire water in the actual fire. To accurately identify the overcurrent fault, an electrical fault simulator was used in this study to simulate the overcurrent fault condition of a copper-clad aluminum at a current of 52.5–105 A. Then the microstructure characteristics such as metallographic structure, welding hole elements, and so on under different treatment methods were also analyzed using the metallographic microscope and SEM/EDS. The results of the study are summarized as follows: (1) under the method of natural cooling, the metallographic structure of the welding mark were mainly columnar crystals and dendritic crystals with a few holes in it. And we found that the maximum particle size and average particle size have a quadratic function relationship with the current value; (2) under the water-cooling method, the welding mark was mainly columnar crystals with a large number of holes in them. At a current of 75 A, the welding mark holes consisted of Al and Cu elements, while at the rest of the current value, they consisted of Al, Cu, and O elements; (3) when the temperature was raised to 450 °C, the welding trace has different elements at different currents. At the temperature of 650 °C, a large number of equiaxed crystals appeared in the welding trace, with a few holes in which at a current at 105 A only. Our study has provided a basis for the investigation of electrical fire accidents and the technical identification of the causes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Xin J, Huang CF. Fire risk assessment of residential buildings based on fire statistics from China. Fire Technol. 2014;50:1147–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhi JY, Shuang SC, Jun D, Xue XX, Wei FW. Microstructural characteristics of arc beads with overcurrent fault in the fire scene. Materials. 2020;13:4521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Babrauskas V. SFPE handbook of fire protection engineering (fifth edition): electrical fires. Dordrecht: Springer; 2016. p. 47–63.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Babrauskas V. Research on electrical fires: the state of the art. In: Fire safety science-proceedings of the ninth international symposium, USA; 2008. p. 3–18.

  5. Babrauskas V. How do electrical wiring faults lead to structure ignitions. London: Fire and Materials; 2001. p. 39–51.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Su YJ, Liu XH, Huang HY, et al. Effects of processing parameters on the fabrication of copper cladding aluminum rods by horizontal core-filling continuous casting. Metall Mater Trans B. 2011;42(1):104–13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Babrauskas V. How do electrical wiring faults lead to structure ignitions. Fire Mater. 2001;52:39–49.

    Google Scholar 

  8. NFPA921. Guide for fire and explosion investigations. Quincy: National Fire Protection Association; 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cai Z, Shi L. Experimental study on microstructure of overcurrent fault of copper conductor. J Phys: Conf Ser. 2021;1885(3):032062.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Yu Z, Chen S, Deng J, et al. Microstructural characteristics of arc beads with overcurrent fault in the fire scene. Materials. 2020;13(20):4521.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Wright SA, Loud JD, Blanchard RA. Globules and beads: what do they indicate about small-diameter copper conductors that have been through a fire. Fire Technol. 2015;51(5):1051–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Yang LI, Yang LI, Jing J, et al. Macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of primary short-circuiting trace of copper conductor. Fire Sci Technol. 2019;38(03):313–317.

  13. Xu X, Yu Z, Li Y, et al. Microstructural study of arc beads in aluminum alloy wires with an overcurrent fault. Materials. 2021;14(15):4133.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Liu KH, Shih YH, et al. Microstructural study on molten marks of fire-causing copper wires. Materials. 2015;8:3776–90.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhu J, Yu G, Liu T, et al. Application of copper cladding aluminum composites in UHV portable earthing and short-circuiting wires. MATEC web of conferences. EDP Sci. 2018;160:1004.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Babrauskas V. Arc beads from fires: can ‘Cause’ beads be distinguished from ‘Victim’ beads by physical or chemical testing. J Fire Prot Eng. 2004;14:125–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Jin-bao Z, Yi-kun X, Guang-ying Z, et al. Microstructure characteristics of overcurrent melt trace of aluminum alloy wire. Fire Sci Technol. 2021;40(6):932.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Zhang J, Chen T, Su G, et al. Microstructure and component analysis of glowing contacts in electrical fire investigation. Eng Fail Anal. 2022;140:106539.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Xu N, Ding N, Liu L, et al. Microscopic characteristics of copper wires with short-circuit molten marks in electrical fire. Mater Test. 2023;65(6):844–54.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Plan (2021YFE0105000), National Key R&D Plan (2023YFC3009800), National Natural Science Foundation (52074213), Shaanxi Key R&D Plan (2021SF-472, 2022QCY-LL-70), Shaanxi Qin Chuangyuan "Scientists+Engineers" Team Construction (2023KXJ-052).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710054, Shaanxi, China

    Weifeng Wang, Xiaohan Ji, Fangzhi Zhang, Xuanchong Zhao, Xiaoyun Gui, Di He & Lin Wang

  2. Xi’an Key Laboratory of Urban Public Safety and Fire Rescue, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710054, Shaanxi, China

    Weifeng Wang, Xiaohan Ji, Fangzhi Zhang, Xuanchong Zhao, Xiaoyun Gui, Di He & Lin Wang

Authors
  1. Weifeng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiaohan Ji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fangzhi Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xuanchong Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Xiaoyun Gui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Di He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Lin Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

WW contributed to Article ideas and experimental tests, and wrote the paper. XJ contributed to Further deeply discussed experimental ideas. FZ contributed to Completed the data testing. XZ contributed to Completed the data analysis. XG contributed to Improved analysis methods. DH contributed to Review and editing. LW contributed to Check the final version of the paper to be published.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xiaohan Ji or Fangzhi Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, W., Ji, X., Zhang, F. et al. Study on the microstructure characteristics of melting marks in copper-clad aluminum wires under overcurrent faults. J Therm Anal Calorim 149, 345–357 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12681-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12681-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation