Copper connotations

Systems and methods presented herein provide for elastic conductors. The elastic conductors may be configured with a primary that includes an elastic material and a conductive material. For example, the primary may have an elastic fiber, such as spandex, with a conductive material, such as a braided metal wire, wrapped thereabout. Alternatively, the primary may be configured from an elastic material with a conductive material, such as certain nanopartiuclates, embedded therein. The elastic conductors may be used in a variety of ways to form various types of cables. For example, the elastic conductors may be configured to form coaxial cables, USB cables, twisted pairs, etc. The elastic and flexible nature of the cables may make their uses advantageous in wiring environments that are subjected to strain or other harsh conditions. Moreover, the relatively light weight of the cables may make their uses more advantageous in transportation (e.g., aircraft, automobiles, etc.).

[0003] Mainly for reasons of saving weight, cables having a central conductor made of copper, a metal which is a very good conductor of electricity, are often replaced by cables in which the central conductor is made of aluminum that is covered in a layer of copper, with the copper layer constituting about 15% of the diameter of the cable while the aluminum thus occupies about 85% of the diameter of the cable.

Paul Murphy from Moog explains the concept of boosting copper density using segmented stator technology to Lee Teschler of MACHINE DESIGN. 6:34

Heretofore, joining large aluminum underground power cable to aluminum or copper power cable with compression connectors was not feasible because of premature failure of the connector joint under electrical current loading. Unlike the long andbulky compression connectors used on bare overhead power lines where space is not a premium, underground compression connectors must be short to keep manhole size small and to reduce the time required to insulate the joint with hand-wrapped tape or otherinsulating materials. Overhead line connectors receieve appreciable cooling from air currents whereas commonly used paper or plastic insulation restricts the cooling of underground cable joints. Metal particle-filled grease joint compounds used inoverhead line compression connectors are not used for underground cable for several reasons. First, its use is precluded because of the possiblity of migration of the compound into the paper or along the insulation resulting in voltage puncture of theinsulation from ionization. Secondly, joint compounds of grease do not offer much improvement over no compound because grease will move under pressure and therefore does not constrain relative movement of connector and conductor strands whereashardenable resins such as epoxy do.

The most common traditional materials used in electrical energy distribution systems are copper and copper alloys.