Armoured Cables

Armoured cables are also known as SWA (steel wire armoured) cables. As you can guess from the name itself, Armoured cables are protected by a thick layer of steel on it which makes it highly durable and versatile in nature. The armouring is generally made of galvanised iron and is either steel strip armoured (sizes 10 sq mm or larger) or GI wire armoured (sizes upto 6 sq mm). These cables can be used in extreme weather conditions without causing any lack of functionality. Whenever at a roadside you can see large wooden drums, they are mostly of armoured cables, waiting to be laid inside the ground.

Armoured cables applications are in factories/industries where power consumption/load is very high, say starting from 25KW and going in Mega Watts. As power requirement increases, it’s economical to use Aluminium as a conductor and not copper. Hence for sizes from 25 sq mm onwards, the preferred conductor is Aluminium

There are 2 main types of Armoured cables based on the conductor used: