Cable Ampacity and Sizing Study

A cable, serving as a conductor carrying current, must ensure a secure and reliable path for current flow within the network. Performing a cable ampacity study using ETAP involves inputting system details, defining load conditions, and analysing cable sizing for thermal performance. The cable ampacity design requirements for the cable can be user definable or determined from load flow, short circuit and protective device calculation settings.

ETAP study considers various derating factors and network conditions to optimally design the cable for the network. Ambient temperature, depth of laying, method of laying, number of conductors in a circuit, cable spacing, conductor insulation type , etc. are the derating factors which are considered during the cable sizing.

The cable must be designed in such a way that it should carry the load current without getting damaged due to the thermal effects and provide reliable operation. The ETAP design calculations with reference to various study results provide required cable specification for the network.