Al vs Cu for MCB rivets

[incognito1]

what is the best rivet type to be used for 10kA(short circuit capacity) MCB rivets?

can Al rivets withstand higher kA rating or is it Cu rivets?

 

[ScottyUK]

What makes you think either is the dominant factor in breaking capacity?

I've never seen an MCB of that pattern fail due to the rivets snapping. I have seen casings burnt through in one or two instances, one being when the MCB was mis-applied in a highly inductive DC circuit and the other being when they were mis-applied inside an MCC where the fault level was considerably higher than the breaking capacity.

 

[incognito1]

should a 10kA MCB be riveted with Al rivets or Cu rivets?

 

[LionelHutz]

No-one here can help you. That is part of the overall breaker mechanical design and would require FEA of the case to determine what should be done.

I can say just by the color that the breaker in your picture isn't using copper.

 

[ScottyUK]

Could be tinned copper Lionel. ;-)

I actually am fairly sure that Schneider make as little as possible from copper in order to minimise cost, and the rivets are aluminium alloy.

 

[LionelHutz]

Yes, from a cost standpoint no-one is going to pick copper for that purpose.