Process: electroplated, continuous-cast, pressure-bonded
Copper-clad steel selection guide, part 2 of 8
The three primary bonding processes map onto the three classes in the family definition: electrodeposition, cast bonding and pressure bonding. They determine how thick the copper can be, whether the conductor can be annealed, and where each is the economic choice.
| Process | Electroplated (electrodeposition) | Continuous-cast (cast bonding) | Pressure-bonded, incl. hot-roll bonding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principle | Copper electrodeposited onto the steel core in an electrolyte | Steel core passes through molten copper; copper crystallises onto it – metallurgical bond, no interface gap | Copper strip or tube bonded to the steel core under heat and pressure, then rolled and drawn |
| Copper thickness | < 0.3 mm, typically 0.25 mm | 0.25 – 1.0 mm, produced to the design thickness | Set by conductivity grade (30% / 40% IACS; ASTM B910 requires copper ≥ 5% of the diameter) |
| Temper | Usually supplied hard; whether it can be annealed depends on the bond of the plating – as declared by the supplier | Can be fully annealed to a soft temper for bending and laying | Strand normally hard-drawn |
| Economics | Cheaper below 0.3 mm copper | Cheaper above 0.3 mm copper | Suited to strand and volume production to a conductivity grade |
| Typical products | Vertical ground rods (UL 467 / IEC 62561-2 convention) | Horizontal round wire and tape, thick-layer rods, strand | 30% / 40% IACS strand (North American telecom and utility bonding conductor) |
| Standards direction | Both Chinese CCS standards recommend it for vertical electrodes; historically the larger volume | Both Chinese CCS standards recommend it for horizontal and vertical electrodes; the direction of travel | The construction behind the CCS wire constants in IEEE 80 Table 1 |
DL/T 1312-2023 clause 4.2: "copper-clad steel should be produced by continuous casting or electroplating; the sleeve cold-drawing process shall not be used; horizontal electrodes should be annealed." Q/GDW 10466-2021 makes the same recommendation on temper. Electroplated CCS on the market is mostly hard rod stock, though 0.25 mm-class plated round conductor for horizontal laying also exists (North American copper-bonded round conductor, for example); the combined requirement for an annealed temper and a thick layer is what points to continuous casting – a direction on process, not a verdict on electroplating. Sleeve cold-drawing (a steel core drawn inside a copper tube) has no bond at the copper–steel interface and was explicitly prohibited for power earthing by the 2023 revision.
Product designation per DL/T 1312-2023 clause 5: CCS – process code (EP electroplated / CC continuous-cast) – conductivity grade – minimum copper thickness – size. Example: CCS CC 25-0.8-Ø16 is a continuous-cast round wire, 25% IACS grade, 0.8 mm minimum copper, Ø16; CCS CC 20-0.6-50×5 a 50×5 continuous-cast tape.
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