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OUTLINE
I. REVIEW: DC RESISTANCE

II. FACTORS AFFECTING CONDUCTOR RESISTANCE

A. SPIRALING

B. TEMPERATURE

C. FREQUENCY

D. CURRENT MAGNITUDE

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 inherit in any materials

 most significant cause of
“POWER LOSS” in the
transmission line .

Thus, the effective resistance of a

conductor in T.L. is expressed as

PLOSS Ohms
Reff  2
I cond (Ω)

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 For a UNIFORM cross-sectional area,


Rdc   Ohms (Ω)
A
where:

PARAMETERS MKS ENGLISH

Rdc = dc resistance Ω Ω
ρ = resistivity of the conductor   cmil
Ω-m
at certain temperature ft

 = conductor length m Ft
A = conductor area sq. m. cmil

NOTES:
1. RESISTIVITY AT 20°C
RESISTIVITY AT 20°C
CONDUCTOR % CONDUCTIVITY
MKS (Ω-m) ENGLISH (Ω-cmil)/ft

ANNEALED COPPER 100% 1 . 72 x 10 8

10.50

8
HARD DRAWN COPPER 97.3% 1 . 77 x 10 10.66

ALUMINUM 61% 2 . 83 x 10 8 17.00

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NOTES:
2. CROSS SECTIONAL AREA

Acmil  d mil  d mm 2
2
A sq . mm 
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CONVERSION:
1 in  1000 mil
1 m  3.281 ft
1 mi  1609 m

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1. SPIRALING OF STRANDED CONDUCTORS

2. TEMPERATURE
3. FREQUENCY (SKIN EFFECT)
4. CURRENT MAGNITUDE

 Spiraling makes the strands of the

conductor longer than the actual
conductor length
(except the center strand)

 As a result, resistance also

increases due to spiraling
(usually, about 1% to 2% )

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 Variation of resistance
of metallic conductor is
practically linear over
the normal range of
operation

R2 T  t2
 R2  R1 1  1 t2  t1 
R1 T  t1 where:
αn= temperature coefficient at n°C
T= temperature constant

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NOTES:
1
1. TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT n 
at n°C (αn) T  tn
2. TEMPERATURE CONSTANT (T)
CONDUCTOR T (°C)

ANNEALED COPPER 234.5

HARD DRAWN COPPER 241.5

ALUMINUM 228.0

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In AC, As the frequency increases

Non uniformity of current distribution is more pronounced (causes

nonuniform current density

( a phenomenon where the current tends to

crowd toward the conductor surface)

Conductor loss increases, causing AC Resistance to increase also

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Mathematically, the effective resistance of a conductor

in T.L. can be expressed as

PLOSS Ohms Reff  Rdc x k Ohms

Reff  2
I cond (Ω) (Ω)

1 1 F 2 F  0.0150 d 2 f ( for Cu )
k
2 F  0.0063 d 2 f ( for Al )
where:
D= diameter of the conductor (in) f= frequency (Hz)

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 For some magnetic conductors,

resistance also depends on the
current magnitude

E.g. ACSR

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1. Determine the dc resistance of a 10km long solid

circular aluminum conductor with a diameter of 250
mils at (a) 20°C ; (b) 120°C
2. A transmission line cable consist of 19 strands of identical
copper conductors, each 1.5mm in diameter. The length
of the cable is 2 km, but, because of the twist of the
strands, the actual length of the conductor is increased
by 5%. What is the resistance of the cable? ( Assume that
ρ= 1.72x10-8 Ω-m)

3. An all aluminum conductor is composed of 37 strands

each having a diameter of 0.333cm. Compute the
dc resistance in ohms per kilometer at 75°C .
Assume that the increase due to spiraling is 2%.

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4. For a 4/0 hard drawn copper conductor with 12 strands

and a strand diameter of 0.1328 in:
a. Find the total copper cross sectional area of the
conductor
b. Find the dc resistance at 50°C. Assume a 2% increase
in resistance due to spiraling.
c. Determine the percent increase in resitance at 50°C,
60 Hz versus DC. (Let RAC, 50°C= 0.1883 Ω/km)

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REFERENCE
[1] THERAJA, B.L. & THERAJA A.K. (2005). A TEXTBOOK OF ELECTRICAL
TECHNOLOGY. VOLUME I: BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. S. CHAND
& COMPANY LTD. RAM NAGAR, NEW DELHI
[2] THERAJA, B.L. & THERAJA A.K. (2005). A TEXTBOOK OF ELECTRICAL
TECHNOLOGY. VOLUME III: TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION &
UTILIZATION. S. CHAND & COMPANY LTD. RAM NAGAR, NEW DELHI
[3] STEVENSON, W. D. (1984). ELEMENTS OF POWER SYSTEM ANALYSIS.
MCGRAW-HILL, INC. USA
[4] PANSINI (1984) BOOK OF PNASINI. MCGRAW-HILL, INC. USA
[5] METHA. (1980) POWER SYSTEM. MCGRAW-HILL, INC. USA

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