14.08.

2020

Technical clarification on plating of ends of busbars in bustrunking system

There are two primary objective of plating on bus bars:

1) Less contact resistance and less temperature rise: In case of Bus bar Trunking temperature rise is
governed by material, cross- section and design of Bus bars, hence plating do not affect on temperature
rise of bus bars.

2) Corrosion resistance at joints: When Bus bars are not plated, over a period of time the surface
will oxidize. When that occurs, then more power is required to push electricity along the surface because
the oxidized surface simply doesn’t conduct as compared to smooth plated surface, hence bustrunking
joint need to be protected from corrosion otherwise joint will deteriorate over a period of time and fail.
Hence plating is mainly desired for corrosion resistance of joint.

Tin plating maintains good conductivity over a period of time, and performs well in the presence of hydrogen
sulfide and gives good corrosion resistance. Tin is soft and has higher resistance than silver. Both of these
characteristics make it suitable for non-sliding and non-rotating applications i.e. bolted joint with pressure.

Application area: In Sandwich Bustrunking construction, all the Bus bars are fully wrapped with insulation and
are sandwiched together. The joint area of Sandwich Bustrunking system is the only region which will be exposed
to the open environment before installation is done. Each Bus bar is well insulated over entire length except the
end portion in 50mm length from edge for joining purpose. C&S has devised plating length carefully which is
done over a length of 90mm from the edge which is more than the exposed area of the Busbar. Insulation on
Busbar which also covers some part of plated portion of Bus bar does not expose the same to any corrosive
environment except the end portion which is efficiently protected by the Tin plating. Therefore there is no need
for plating the Busbar over entire length.

R&D-Bustunking System