CABLE BENDING RADIUS

electrical-engineer-guide.blogspot.com.au /2013/08/cable-bending-radius.html

By Kunal

Simpatico: This is a practical question.

You have a 4c 300mm2 XLPE/SWA/PVC 600/1000V cable, what is the weight and the minimum bending radius?
If you had a square cable pull pit, with one 150mm diameter duct coming in on one face and another 150mm
diameter duct going out at 90 degrees, (a right angle bend), what would be the minimum dimensions of the pit.
How would the answers to all of the above change if the cable was lead sheathed (under the armour) as well.
Spare a thought for the cable layers, next time you specify a 4 core 300mm2 cable.

Simplicio:
300mm 2 conductor will have a nominal conductor diameter of sqrt(300*4/pi) = 19.55 mm = D1
Actual Diameter of Conductor (as given in table below) = 20.5 mm, which is more than 19.55 as it should be
since there will empty spaces when conductors are stranded

For a 4C (3C+E) 300mm 2 XLPE/SWA/PVC 600/1000 cable:

Weight = 15110 kg/km
Overall Diameter (D2) = 69 mm
Minimum Bending Radius = 14*D2 = 965 mm (multiplying factor f = 14)

For a 4C (3C+E) 300mm 2 XLPE/Pb/SWA/PVC 600/1000 cable:

Weight = 22612 kg/km
Overall Diameter (D2) = 78.7 mm
Minimum Bending Radius = 16*D2 = 1260 mm (multiplying factor = 16)

What I discovered by looking at datasheets of various manufacturers is that all of them have their separate
multiplying factor, although close to each other. For example, OLEX have a multiplying factor of 12 for
XLPE/SWA/PVC whereas Prysmian uses 14.

PRYSMIAN

OLEX

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R = Bending Radius of Cable
D2 = Overall Diameter of Cable
D3 = Diameter of Duct = 150 mm
Lmin = R+D2 = Minimum Dimension of Cable Pit (when the duct inside the cable pit completes a quarter circle to
satisfy the criteria that incoming and outgoing ducts are orthogonal to each other)

Let R = f*D2 (Cable Bending Radius R is a factor f times Nominal Overall Cable Diameter D2)
Then, L min = f*D2+D2 = (1+f)*D2

The problem now translates to determining f and D2 for the cable.

As mentioned in the table above, f = 14 (16 for lead-sheathed cable) & D2 = 69 mm (78.7 mm for lead-sheathed)
Therefore, L min = 15*D2 = 1035 mm (& 17*D2 = 1338 mm for lead-sheathed cable)

Useful Links (opens in a new window):

OLEX Cables
Prysmian Cables

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