A new A-C bus design

WHILE the conventional methods of bus distribution, using multiple cables, flat bars, channels, angles, or tubular conductors, all have their particular advantages, they are limited, chiefly because of excessive voltage drop or high installation cost. Industrial concerns continually are faced with this difficult problem in laying out the electric system for manufacturing plants. The ability of manufacturers to extrude high conductivity metals in practically any shape, opens up a new field to the designer for arrangement of conductors. By using close spacing in a partial triangular arrangement low reactance is obtained, in a simple and inexpensive structure. Using these develop-lengths can be made. Each conductor has a cross-sectional area of 5.16 square inches and a perimeter of 33.86 inches. The width to thickness ratio was determined by calculations from Maxwell´s basic formula for reactance, using geometric mean distances. The final design has a ratio of 36. This study also aided in deciding on a conductor spacing of one inch — a good compromise between low reactance, adequate cooling, satisfactory insulation, and reasonable short-circuit stresses.