Signs of current overload of an aluminum conducto

Abstract

It has been proven that fires in buildings and fires of motor vehicles refer to very severe accidents. Therefore, a
problem of improvement of their fire safety is of great importance. There are data evidencing that aluminum wires are
widely used in construction of residential buildings and have prospects of usage in the motor vehicle industry. It has
been experimentally instantiated that current overload in an electric circuit containing an aluminum wire causes
formation of such traces as major and small bubbles, thickening, thinning, surface melting, which typically occur with
copper conductors. A morphologic analysis of traces occurring in the result of overcurrent flow through the aluminum
conductor has been carried out.
There is information given in the paper, which covers results of researches of samples of aluminum multiwire
conductors exposed to current overload, which were conducted with the use of JSM-6390LV focused-beam electronic
microscope. The paper contains pictures of melting surfaces of aluminum multiwire conductors exposed to current
overload. Specific diagnostic markers have been identified, which allow using the raster microscopy method to identify
a cause of the aluminum conductor failure occurred due to fire (high-temperature effect, short circuit, current
overload).
It has been determined that identified signs are persistent and are not exposed to changes under natural
conditions of storage of samples of electric wiring taken from the fire location.