How to Choose Cable Armored Strip Wholesale

The core substrate of cable armored aluminum tape is mostly rust-resistant aluminum alloys such as 5052 and 5154A, which possess high strength, good toughness, corrosion resistance, and excellent shielding performance, making it suitable for most medium and low voltage cable production scenarios. Interlocking armored aluminum tape and finished rewound aluminum tape are not two completely independent materials, but rather complementary products with the same substrate but different processing forms and applications.

1. Interlocking Armored Aluminum Tape

Aluminum interlocking strip is a special-shaped aluminum tape designed specifically for cable armor structures. Its core characteristic is that it can be formed through equipment pressing, spiral wrapping, and mechanical interlocking to create an interlocking, overlapping integral armor layer. During the production process, after the aluminum tape is formed by the armoring machine, it is mechanically interlocked layer by layer around the outside of the cable core, preventing it from easily loosening or cracking.

This type of aluminum tape has extremely high material performance requirements, needing to meet industry standards of tensile strength of 276-303 MPa and elongation after fracture ≥10%. It balances high strength and flexibility, resisting external extrusion, impact, and rodent abrasion, while also adapting to cable bending requirements without causing armor layer breakage or shielding failure due to bending. Its core function is to provide high-strength mechanical protection for cables on top of electromagnetic shielding, and it is mostly used in high-end protective cables.

2. Finished Rewound Aluminum Tape

Finished rewound aluminum armor tape is a standardized finished aluminum coil that has undergone precision rewinding, slitting, and shaping. It is a general-purpose basic material for cable production. Manufacturers flatten, slit, and rewind virgin aluminum tape, customizing it into coils that meet the inner diameter, outer diameter, and weight standards of equipment. No secondary processing is required, and it can be directly adapted to various cable production line equipment.

Its core advantages are strong adaptability, simplified processes, and high versatility, covering various categories such as ordinary shielding aluminum tape and armor-specific aluminum tape. In short, most aluminum tapes used for cable armoring and shielding on the market can be processed into finished rewound aluminum tapes through a rewinding process, allowing them to be directly used in production. This effectively reduces the need for secondary cutting and shaping processes, improving production efficiency and reducing material waste.

3. Key Differences

1) Different Structural and Performance Focuses

Interlocking armored aluminum tape prioritizes structural protection. Utilizing a unique interlocking structure, it forms a sealed protective layer, significantly improving its resistance to pressure, impact, and abrasion. The sealed structure also prevents electromagnetic signal leakage, resulting in stronger shielding stability and improved cable flame retardancy and moisture resistance, making it suitable for complex and harsh working conditions.

Finished rewinding aluminum tape prioritizes production adaptability. It has no fixed structural properties and is merely a standardized finished roll; its performance is determined by the base material. Ordinary rewound aluminum tape only meets basic electromagnetic shielding requirements, offering only average protection; while armored rewound aluminum tape possesses the fundamental performance of interlocking molding.

2) Different Cable Application Scenarios

Interlocking armored aluminum tape is specifically designed for high-protection-level cables, including flexible metal armored cables, fire-resistant cables, industrial power cables, underground cables, and dedicated MC cables for computer rooms. It is suitable for harsh environments such as industrial plants, underground pipe networks, damp and corrosive environments, and areas susceptible to external damage, replacing traditional metal conduits and reducing construction costs.

Finished rewound aluminum tape is compatible with the shielding and armoring production of all types of cables, offering exceptional versatility. It can be used for basic electromagnetic shielding of ordinary control cables and low-voltage power cables, or as a base material to be processed into interlocking armored aluminum tape for the production of high-end protective cables. It is a universally essential material in the cable industry.

3) Different Production and Processing Methods

Interlocking armored aluminum tape has higher requirements for equipment and processes. Production requires a dedicated armoring machine to complete pressing, spiral wrapping, and mechanical interlocking forming. It has stringent requirements for the flatness, toughness, and dimensional accuracy of the aluminum tape, with a low tolerance for error.

The finished rewound aluminum strip is a standardized product that can be used right out of the box without secondary shaping or cutting. It is compatible with conventional cable production lines, greatly simplifying the production process and making it suitable for mass standardized production.

Original source: https://www.alcustrip.com/a/how-to-choose-cable-armored-strip-wholesale.html