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Designation: B 738 – 98
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS
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Reprinted from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Copyright ASTM

Standard Specification for

Fine-Wire Bunch-Stranded and Rope-Lay Bunch-Stranded
Copper Conductors for Use as Electrical Conductors1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation B 738; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope 3.1.2 Class:

1.1 This specification covers bare bunch-stranded and rope- 3.1.2.1 Class R—Stranded conductors using wire 42 AWG
lay bunch-stranded conductors made from round copper wires (0.0025).
finer than No. 40 AWG with diameters less than 0.0031 in. 3.1.2.2 Class S—Stranded conductors using wire 44 AWG
(.078 mm), either coated or uncoated with tin or silver, for use (0.0020).
as electrical conductors. (Explanatory Note 1). 3.1.2.3 Class T—Stranded conductors using wire 46 AWG
1.2 The values (SI units) for density and temperature are (0.00157).
regarded as the standard. For all other properties the inchpound 3.1.2.4 Class U—Stranded conductors using wire 48 AWG
values are to be regarded as standard, and the SI units may be (0.00124).
approximate. 3.1.2.5 Class V—Stranded conductors using wire 50 AWG
(0.00099).
2. Referenced Documents 3.2 Detailed information on Type B Conductors is found in
2.1 ASTM Standards: Table 1 and Table 2. Detailed information on Type R Conduc-
B 33 Specification for Tinned Soft or Annealed Copper tors is found in Table 3 and Table 2.
Wire for Electrical Purposes2
4. Ordering Information
B 49 Specification for Copper Redraw Rod for Electrical
Purposes 4.1 Orders for materials under this specification shall in-
B 172 Specification for Rope-Lay Stranded Copper Con- clude the following information:
ductors Having Bunch-Stranded Members, for Electrical 4.1.1 Quantity of each size, class, and type,
Conductors2 4.1.2 Conductor size—circular-mil area, d-c resistance (7.1)
B 174 Specification for Bunch-Stranded Copper Conduc- or AWG (5.2.1),
tors for Electrical Conductors2 4.1.3 Class and type (Section 3),
B 193 Test Method for Resistivity of Electrical Conductor 4.1.4 Whether coated or uncoated; if coated, designate type
Materials2 of coating (6.1); if silver coated, the minimum thickness of
B 258 Specification for Standard Nominal Diameters and silver (6.1.2), and whether tarnish protection is desired (11.3),
Cross-Sectional Areas of AWG Sizes of Solid Round Wires 4.1.5 Maximum length of lay (5.2.4), if required,
Used as Electrical Conductors2 4.1.6 Temper (6.2),
B 298 Specification for Silver-Coated Soft or Annealed 4.1.7 Separators, if required (5.2.2),
Copper Wire2 4.1.8 Package size (11.1),
B 354 Terminology Relating to Uninsulated Metallic Elec- 4.1.9 Special package marking, if required (Section 10), and
trical Conductors2 4.1.10 Place of inspection (Section 9).
4.2 In addition, Supplementary Requirements shall apply
3. Classification only when specified by the purchaser in the inquiry, contract, or
3.1 For the purposes of this specification, the following purchase order for direct procurement by agencies of the U.S.
classifications have been assigned (Explanatory Note 2): Government.
3.1.1 Type:
5. Materials and Manufacture
3.1.1.1 Type B—Bunch-stranded conductors.
3.1.1.2 Type R—Rope-lay bunch-stranded conductors. 5.1 The material shall be copper of such quality and purity
that the finished product shall have the properties and charac-
1
teristics described in this specification. Material meeting the
This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee B-1 on
Electrical Conductors and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee B01.04 on
requirements of Specification B 49 is such a material.
Conductors of Copper and Copper Alloys. 5.2 Construction:
Current edition approved March 10, 1998. Published September 1998. Originally 5.2.1 Cross-Sectional Area—The cross-sectional area, num-
published as B 738 – 84. Last previous edition B 738 – 93. ber, and diameter of wires for a variety of strand constructions
2
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 02.03.

1
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B 738
TABLE 1 Classification of Type B Bunch-Stranded Conductors NOTE 1—The term unannealed as used in this specification means
Class Wire Diameter, in.A Conductor Sizes, AWG cold-worked conductor as produced on commercial wire-drawing ma-
chines.
R 0.0025 (No. 42 AWG) 24,26,28,30,32,34
S 0.0020 (No. 44 AWG) 26,28,30,32,34,36 6.3 Tensile Strength and Elongation— The stranded con-
T 0.00157 (No. 46 AWG) 28,30,32,34,36,38
U 0.00124 (No. 48 AWG) 30,32,34,36,38,40
ductor, in its finished form, shall conform to the following:
V 0.00099 (No. 50 AWG) 32,34,36,38,40 Tensile Strength, min. Elongation, min,
A Finished State psi MPa 10 in. %
Sufficient quantities of wires of these diameters shall be used to form
Unannealed 40 000 275 ...
conductors having cross-sectional areas approximately equal to the AWG conduc-
Annealed ... ... 10
tor sizes listed.
7. Electrical Properties
in general use are shown in Table 2. 7.1 D-C Resistance—The d-c resistance in V/1000 ft of the
5.2.2 Separators—If a separator is required to be furnished bunch-stranded conductor shall not exceed the appropriate
with the conductor, it shall be specified by the purchaser at the values specified in Table 5. The d-c resistance in V/1000 ft of
time of the order as to the requirements for the kind and the rope-lay bunch-stranded conductor shall not exceed the
thickness of material and its application details. appropriate values specified in Table 6 (Explanatory Note 3
5.2.3 Joints: and Note 4).
5.2.3.1 Necessary joints in wires shall be made in accor-
dance with accepted commercial practice. 8. Test Methods
5.2.3.2 Joints shall be so constructed and so disposed 8.1 Coating—Tests to determine conformance of the coat-
throughout the conductor that the diameter or configuration of ing to the requirements of Specification B 33 or Specification
the completed conductor is not substantially affected, and that B 298 shall be performed on the individual wires before
the flexibility of the completed conductor is not adversely stranding (see 6.1.1 to 6.1.3).
affected. 8.2 Tensile Strength and Elongation:
5.2.4 Lay: 8.2.1 Tests to determine conformance to the tensile strength
5.2.4.1 Conductors of the same size and description fur- and elongation requirements of 6.3 shall be made on the
nished on one order shall have the same lay. finished stranded conductor.
5.2.4.2 The direction of the lay of bunch-stranded conduc- 8.2.2 Determine tensile strength, Ts, expressed in pounds
tors shall be at the option of the manufacturer unless otherwise per square inch as follows:
specified by the purchaser.
L
5.2.4.3 Unless otherwise specified by the purchaser, the Ts 5 A
length of the lay of bare or coated bunch-stranded conductors
shall conform to the requirements of Table 4. where:
5.2.4.4 The direction of the lay of the outer layer of rope-lay L 5 maximum load on the stranded conductor during the
stranded conductors shall be lefthand, unless otherwise speci- tension test (see Explanatory Note 5), lbs, and
fied by the purchaser. A 5 original cross-sectional area of the stranded conductor,
5.2.4.5 The length of the lay of the outer layer of rope-lay in.2/in. (see 8.2).
stranded conductors shall be not less than 8 or more than 16 8.2.3 The original cross-sectional area of the stranded con-
times the outside diameter of the completed conductor. The ductor shall be considered to be the cross-sectional area of the
length of the lay of the wires composing the bunch-stranded individual wire calculated from the nominal wire diameter (see
members shall be not more than 30 times the diameter of the Table 5) multiplied by the number of wires in the stranded
member. conductor (Explanatory Note 6).
8.2.4 Determine the elongation of the specimen as the
6. Physical Properties permanent increase in length, expressed in percent of the
6.1 Wire Coating—When coated, the coating of the wires of original length, due to the breaking of the specimen in tension,
the stranded conductor, before stranding, shall conform to the by measurements made between the jaws of testing machine.
requirements of 6.1.1 or 6.1.2. The zero length shall be the distance between the jaws at the
6.1.1 Tin coating shall conform to the coating requirements start of the tension test, and shall be as near 10 in. (250 mm)
of Specification B 33. as practicable. The final length shall be the distance between
6.1.2 Silver coating shall conform to the minimum thick- the jaws at the time of rupture. The fracture shall be between
ness requirements of the purchase document. Minimum thick- the jaws of the testing machine and not closer than 1 in. (25
ness shall be determined using the method for determining mm) to either jaw.
plating thickness described in Specification B 298. 8.3 Electrical—Tests to determine conformance to the elec-
6.1.3 The finished diameter and mass of the coated wires trical resistance requirements of 7.1 shall be made on the
used shall be substantially equal to those of the uncoated wires finished stranded conductor in accordance with Test Method
of the same class. B 193 (Explanatory Note 3).
6.2 Temper—Unless otherwise specified, all coated conduc- 8.4 Other Requirements—For the purpose of calculating
tors shall be furnished in the annealed temper. Uncoated mass, cross-sectional area, and the like, the density of the
conductors may be furnished either annealed or unannealed as coated copper shall be taken as 8.89 g/cm3(0.32117 lb/in. 3) at
ordered (see 4.1.6). 20°C (Explanatory Note 5).
2
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B 738
TABLE 2 Construction Requirements of Bunch-Stranded and Rope-Lay Bunch-Stranded ConductorsA
CLASS R CLASS S CLASS T CLASS U CLASS V
Minimum Number Minimum Number Minimum Number Minimum Number Minimum Number
Nominal
Size, of Wires 0.0025 in. of Wires 0.0020 in. of Wires 0.00157 in. of Wires 0.00124 in. of Wires 0.00099 in.
Area,
AWG in Diameter in Diameter in Diameter in Diameter in Diameter
cmil
(No. 42 AWG) (No. 44 AWG) (No. 46 AWG) (No. 48 AWG) (No. 50 AWG)
TypeB B TypeC R Type B Type R Type B Type R Type B Type R Type B Type R
2580 16 ... ... ... 665 ... ... ... ... ... ...
1620 18 ... ... ... 413 ... ... ... ... ... ...
1020 20 ... 168 ... 259 ... ... ... ... ... ...
640 22 ... 105 ... 168 ... ... ... ... ... ...
404 24 65 ... ... 105 ... 168 ... ... ... ...
253 26 41 ... 65 ... ... 105 ... 168 ... ...
159 28 26 ... 40 ... 65 ... ... 105 ... 168
100 30 16 ... 25 ... 40 ... 65 ... ... 105
64 32 10 ... 16 ... 25 ... 40 ... 65 ...
40 34 7 ... 10 ... 16 ... 25 ... 40 ...
25 36 ... ... 7 ... 10 ... 16 ... 25 ...
16 38 ... ... ... ... 7 ... 10 ... 16 ...
10 40 ... ... ... ... ... ... 7 ... 10 ...
A
This table shows a variety of strand constructions useful and generally adequate to meet the needs encountered. It is not intended that the constructions listed in this
table be exclusive of other constructions that may appear durable in certain applications employing the same number of wires. The constructions shown in this table provide
for a finished, noncovered, stranded conductor approximately of the area indicated. When specified by the purchaser, usually to provide additional area to compensate
for draw-down during subsequent processing, the number or size of wires composing the uncovered conductor may be increased as required.
B
Type B Bunch-Stranded Conductors.
C
Type R Rope-Lay Bunch-Stranded Conductors.

TABLE 3 Classification of Type R Rope-Lay Bunch-Stranded the manufacturer and the purchaser in the placing of individual
ConductorsA orders.
Class Wire Diameter, in.B Conductor Sizes, AWG 11.2 The conductors shall be protected against damage in
R 0.0025 (No. 42 AWG) 20,22 ordinary handling and shipping.
S 0.0020 (No. 44 AWG) 16,18,20,22,24 11.3 When specified, silver-plated wire shall be protected
T 0.00157 (No. 46 AWG) 24,26
U 0.00124 (No. 48 AWG) 26,28 from tarnish.
V 0.00099 (No. 50 AWG) 28,30
A
Rope-lay bunch-stranded conductors 7 by bunch-stranded members. 12. Keywords
B
Sufficient quantities of wires of these diameters shall be used to form
conductors having cross-sectional areas approximately equal to the AWG conduc-
12.1 copper electrical conductor; electrical conductor; elec-
tor sizes listed. trical conductor—copper; fine-wire bunch-stranded conductor;
rope-lay bunch-stranded conductor; stranded conductor
9. Inspection
EXPLANATORY NOTES
9.1 Unless otherwise specified in the contract or purchase
order, the manufacturer shall be responsible for the perfor- NOTE 1—In this specification, only bunch-stranded and rope-lay bunch-
mance of all inspection and test requirements specified. stranded conductors made from coated or uncoated round copper wires
9.2 All inspection and tests shall be made at the place of finer than No. 40 AWG are defined. Requirements for rope-lay stranded
copper conductors having bunch-stranded members made from round
manufacture unless otherwise especially agreed upon between copper wires either coated or uncoated, No. 34 AWG or heavier will be
the manufacturer and the purchaser at the time of purchase. found in Specification B 172. Requirements for bunch-stranded copper
9.3 The manufacturer shall afford the inspector representing conductors made from round copper wires either coated or uncoated, No.
the purchaser all reasonable manufacturer’s facilities to satisfy 40 AWG or heavier will be found in Specification B 174.
him that the material is being furnished in accordance with this NOTE 2—For definitions of terms relating to conductors, reference
specification. should be made to Terminology B 354.
NOTE 3—Because of the difficulties encountered in determining cor-
10. Product Marking rectly the cross-sectional area of stranded conductors, this requirement has
been superseded by the d-c ohmic resistance/1000 ft length of conductors.
10.1 The net mass, length (or lengths, and number of Since this specification describes uninsulated conductors usually intended
lengths, if more than one length is included in the package), for ultimate use as insulated conductors in various electrical and electronic
size designation, type of conductor, purchase order number, applications, maximum resistance values are shown for the conductors
and any other marks required by the purchase order shall be before insulating to serve as the minimum acceptance requirement for the
marked on a tag attached to the reel and optionally to the end conductor. Since some increase of resistance may occur during the
of the conductor inside of the package. The same information, insulating process due to stretching, an allowance in the maximum
resistance is recommended. The values appearing in Table 5 and Table 6
together with the manufacturer’s serial number, if any, and all
under the heading “Annealed Silver Coated” are applicable to silver-
shipping marks required by the purchaser, shall appear on the coated conductors whether annealed or unannealed prior to insulating.
outside of each package. NOTE 4—The method used to calculate the d-c resistance values
appearing in the tables is as follows:
11. Packaging D-C resistance at 20°C for the conductors (Table 5 and Table 6)
11.1 Package sizes for conductors shall be agreed upon by expressed in maximum V/1000 ft 5

3
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B 738
TABLE 4 Maximum Length of Lay for Bunch-Stranded Conductors
Nominal Diameter Nominal Area Maximum Length of Lay
Size, AWG
2
in. (mm) cmil (mm ) in. (mm)
24 0.024 (0.61) 404 (0.20) 0.70 (18)
26 0.019 (0.48) 253 (0.13) 0.60 (15)
28 0.015 (0.38) 159 (0.081) 0.50 (13)
30 0.012 (0.30) 100 (0.051) 0.40 (10)
32 0.009 (0.23) 64 (0.032) 0.30 (7.6)
34 0.007 (0.18) 40 (0.020) 0.25 (6.4)
36 0.006 (0.15) 25 (0.013) 0.20 (5.1)
38 0.005 (0.13) 16 (0.0081) 0.15 (3.8)
40 0.004 (0.10) 10 (0.0051) 0.13 (3.3)

TABLE 5 D-C Ohmic Resistance Per 1000 Ft. of Type B Bunch-Stranded Conductors
Conductor ConstructionA Calculated Total D-C Resistance at 20°C, V/1000 ft, max.B
Size Designations Number of Nominal Diameter Cross-Sectional Annealed Bare or Annealed Tin Unannealed
WiresC of Each Wire, in. Area cmil Silver CoatedD CoatedE Bare
24-65 65 0.0025 406 28.3 30.4 29.4
26-41 41 0.0025 256 44.9 48.2 46.7
26-65 65 0.0020 260 45.2 48.5 47.0
28-26 26 0.0025 163 70.8 76.0 73.6
28-40 40 0.0020 160 73.5 78.9 76.4
28-65 65 0.00157 160 71.8 ... 74.6
30-16 16 0.0025 100 115.0 123.4 119.6
30-25 25 0.0020 100 117.5 126.2 122.2
30-40 40 0.00157 98.6 116.6 ... 121.3
30-65 65 0.00124 99.9 115.0 ... 119.6
32-10C 10 0.0025 62.5C 184.0 197.5 191.3
32-16 16 0.0020 64 183.7 197.2 191.0
32-25C 25 0.00157 61.6C 186.6 ... 194.0
32-40C 40 0.00124 61.5C 187.0 ... 194.4
32-65 65 0.00099 63.7 180.5 ... 187.7
34-7 7 0.0025 43.8 262.8 281.8 273.3
34-10 10 0.0020 40 293.8 315.5 305.6
34-16 16 0.00157 39.4 291.6 ... 303.2
34-25C 25 0.00124 38.4C 299.1 ... 311.1
34-40 40 0.00099 39.2 293.3 ... 305.0
36-7 7 0.0020 28 419.8 450.6 436.5
36-10 10 0.00157 24.6 466.5 ... 485.1
36-16 16 0.00124 24.6 467.4 ... 486.0
36-25 25 0.00099 24.5 469.3 ... 488.0
38-7 7 0.00157 17.3 666.4 ... 693.0
38-10C 10 0.00124 15.4C 747.8 ... 777.7
38-16 16 0.00099 15.7 733.2 ... 762.5
40-7 7 0.00124 10.8 1068.3 ... 1111.0
40-10 10 0.00099 9.8 1173.2 ... 1220.0
A
See Table 2 for construction requirements or bunch-stranded conductors.
B
See Explanatory Note 4.
C
Bunch.
D
The cross-sectional areas of these conductor-size designations deviate by more than 2 % from the nominal areas of the standard AWG sizes as defined in Specification
B 258.
E
Tin-coated wire is not available at this time on wire diameters smaller than .0020 (44 AWG).

10.371 3 K
~ 1000 NC 3 d2f! d 5 single wire nominal diameter, in., and
f 5 diameter factor (minimum wire diameter) for all sizes except No
where: 44 AWG is 0.92 and for No 44 AWG (0.0020) it is 0.90.
K 5 stranding factor: for Type B, bunch-stranded conductors, the NOTE 5—The value of the density of copper is in accordance with the
factor is 1.02; and for Type R, Rope-lay bunch-stranded International Annealed Copper Standard.
conductors, the factor is 1.04,
N 5 the number of wires in the stranded conductor, In calculations involving density it must be borne in mind that the
C 5 minimum wire conductivity divided by 100 as shown in the apparent density of coated wire is not constant but a variable function of
following: wire diameter. The smaller the diameter, the greater the percentage of
coating present and hence the greater departure from the density of copper.
Range of Wire
Type of Wire Sizes C NOTE 6—It is known that the rate of loading during tension testing of
Annealed silver coated all 1.00 copper affects the performance of the sample to a greater or lesser extent,
Annealed bare all 1.00 depending upon many factors. In general, tested values of tensile strength
Annealed tin coated all 0.9315 are increased and tested values of elongation are reduced with increase of
Unannealed bare all 0.9616 speed of the moving head of the testing machine. These effects are

4
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B 738
TABLE 6 D-C Ohmic Resistance Per 1000 Ft. of Type R Rope-Lay Bunch-Stranded Conductor
Conductor ConstructionA Calculated Total D-C Resistance of 20°C, Ohms/1000 ft. max.B
Size Designation Number of Nominal Diameter Cross-Sectional Annealed Bare or Annealed Tin Unannealed
WiresC of Each Wire, in. Area cmil Silver CoatedB CoatedD Bare
16-665 665 0.0020 2660 4.51 4.84 4.69
18-413 413 0.0020 1652 7.25 7.79 7.54
20-168 168 0.0025 1050 11.2 12.0 11.6
20-259 259 0.0020 1036 11.6 12.4 12.0
22-105 105 0.0025 656 17.9 19.2 18.6
22-168 168 0.0020 672 17.8 19.1 18.5
24-105 105 0.0020 420 28.5 30.6 29.7
24-168 168 0.00157 414 28.3 ... 29.4
26-105 105 0.00157 259 45.3 ... 47.1
26-168 168 0.00124 258 45.4 ... 47.2
28-105 105 0.00124 161 72.6 ... 75.5
28-168 168 0.00099 165 71.2 ... 74.0
30-105 105 0.00099 103 113.9 ... 118.5
A
See Table 2 Construction Requirements of Rope-Lay Bunch-Stranded Conductors.
B
See Explanatory Note 3.
C
Seven Member Ropes.
D
Tin coated wire is not available at this time on wire diameters smaller than .0020 (44 AWG).

pronounced when the speed of the moving head is excessive in the testing mm/min) but in no case at a speed greater than that at which correct
of hard-drawn wires. It is suggested that tests be made at speeds of moving readings can be made.
heads that, under no-load conditions, are not greater than 3 in./min (75

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