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How can I calculate the current carrying capacity of a DC copper bus bar with respect to temperature?

Bus bar specifications: Copper Busbar

Width=40mm Thickness=6mm Ambient Temp5 (C)=4

Viru
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  • See this question posted previously: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/314121/how-to-calculate-temperature-of-busbar-when-current-flowing-through-it-is-600a-f – R Drast Mar 03 '20 at 09:12
  • Maybe we can get at this from the other side. How many amps do you need to run through the bus bar? – user57037 Mar 03 '20 at 09:19
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    Continuous or short term? Natural convection or forced air? Vertical or horizontal? Is the bar mounted on a flat surface or free standing? Do you want to know the temperature rise vs current, or the current at which it melts vs ambient temperature? Or, do you know the allowable temperature rise? The allowable temperature rise would be a realistic requirement. – Mattman944 Mar 03 '20 at 14:52
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    There's some useful tables here https://www.copper.org/applications/electrical/busbar/busbar_ampacities.html Note the information in table 4 - busbars painted black have a much better dissipation than a nice shiny bare copper bar. – Phil G Mar 03 '20 at 15:55
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    @PhilG - Excellent. 6 mm x 40 mm corresponds to about 1/4" by 1.5", so the allowable current for a 30 degC rise is about 564 A. Note that the table is using an old cross-sectional unit, circular mils. And it has a typo, it should be "MCM", thousand circular mils, not "cm". – Mattman944 Mar 03 '20 at 16:57
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    @Viru - This seems to be a duplicate of your previous question: "[How can I calculate the current carrying capacity of a DC copper bus bar with respect to temperature?](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/476381/how-can-i-calculate-the-current-carrying-capacity-of-a-dc-copper-bus-bar-with-re)". Please do not re-post the same question. If you have new information, then add it to the original question. If you are not getting the type of answers you want, then see: [What should I do if no one answers my question?](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/help/no-one-answers). Thanks. – SamGibson Mar 03 '20 at 17:50
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    @Viru - More detailed questions get better answers. Phil and I guessed at what you might want. You have not responded to comments in this question or your previous question. – Mattman944 Mar 03 '20 at 21:59

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