ASTM B559-93(1998)e1

Standard Specification for Nickel-Coated, Copper-Clad Steel Wire for Electronic Application

SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers nickel-coated, round, copper-clad steel wire for electronic application.  
1.2 Nickel coatings in mass percentages of the total mass of the coated wire are as follows: 2, 4, 7, 10, and 27%. Nickel-coated wire having different minimum mass percentages of nickel may be obtained by mutual agreement between the manufacturer and the purchaser. For information purposes, the thickness of coating in microinches provided by the percentages listed above is shown in Table 1.  
1.3 Four classes of nickel-coated, copper-clad steel wire are covered as follows:  
1.3.1 Class N30HS -Nominal 30% conductivity, hard drawn.  
1.3.2 Class N30A -Nominal 30% conductivity, annealed.  
1.3.3 Class N40HS -Nominal 40% conductivity, hard drawn.  
1.3.4 Class N40A -Nominal 40% conductivity, annealed.  
1.4 The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are for information only, except for resistivity, where the SI units are to be regarded as the standard.
1.5 The following safety hazards caveat pertains only to the test method described in this specification. This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. See Explanatory Note 1.

General Information

• Status: Historical
• Publication Date: 09-Mar-1998
• Technical Committee: B01 - Electrical Conductors
• Drafting Committee: B01.06 - Bi-Metallic Conductors

Relations

• Replaced By: ASTM B559-93(2002)e1 - Standard Specification for Nickel-Coated, Copper-Clad Steel Wire for Electronic Application
• Effective Date: 15-Jul-1993

Standards Content (Sample)

e1
Designation: B 559 – 93 (Reapproved 1998)
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS
100 Barr Harbor Dr., West Conshohocken, PA 19428
Reprinted from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Copyright ASTM
Standard Specification for
Nickel-Coated, Copper-Clad Steel Wire for Electronic
Application
This standard is issued under the fixed designation B 559; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
e NOTE—Editorial changes were made throughout in March 1998.
1. Scope 2.2 ASTM Standards:
B 193 Test Method for Resistivity of Electrical Conductor
1.1 This specification covers nickel-coated, round, copper-
Materials
clad steel wire for electronic application.
B 258 Specification for Standard Nominal Diameters and
1.2 Nickel coatings in mass percentages of the total mass of
Cross-Sectional Areas of AWG Sizes of Solid Round Wires
the coated wire are as follows: 2, 4, 7, 10, and 27 %.
Used as Electrical Conductors
Nickel-coated wire having different minimum mass percent-
B 452 Specification for Copper-Clad Steel Wire for Elec-
ages of nickel may be obtained by mutual agreement between
tronic Application
the manufacturer and the purchaser. For information purposes,
E 75 Test Methods for Chemical Analysis of Copper-Nickel
the thickness of coating in microinches provided by the
and Copper-Nickel-Zinc Alloys
percentages listed above is shown in Table 1.
2.3 American Chemical Society:
1.3 Four classes of nickel-coated, copper-clad steel wire are
Standard Reagents Tests
covered as follows:
2.4 NIST Standard:
1.3.1 Class N30HS—Nominal 30 % conductivity, hard
NBS Handbook 100—Copper Wire Tables
drawn.
1.3.2 Class N30A—Nominal 30 % conductivity, annealed.
3. Terminology
1.3.3 Class N40HS—Nominal 40 % conductivity, hard
3.1 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:
drawn.
3.1.1 lot—any amount of wire of one class and size pre-
1.3.4 Class N40A—Nominal 40 % conductivity, annealed.
sented for acceptance at one time, such amount, however, not
1.4 The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded
to exceed 10 000 lb (4500 kg) (Note 2).
as the standard. The values given in parentheses are for
information only, except for resistivity, where the SI units are
NOTE 2—A lot should comprise material taken from a product regularly
to be regarded as the standard. meeting the requirements of this specification. Inspection of individual
lots of less than 500 lb (230 kg) of wire cannot be justified economically.
1.5 The following safety hazards caveat pertains only to the
For small lots of 500 lb (230 kg) or less, the purchaser may agree to the
test method described in this specification. This standard does
manufacturers’ regular inspection of the product as a whole as evidence of
not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any,
acceptability of such small lots.
associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this
3.1.2 sample—a quantity of production units (coils, reels,
standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices
etc.) selected at random from the lot for the purpose of
and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior
determining conformance of the lot to the requirements of this
to use. See Note 1.
specification.
NOTE 1—Caution: Consideration should be given to toxicity and
3.1.3 specimen—a length of wire removed for test purposes
flammability when selecting solvent cleaners.
from any individual production unit of the sample.
2. Referenced Documents
2.1 The following documents of the issue in effect on date
of material purchase form a part of this specification to the 2
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 02.03.
extent referenced herein: Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 03.05.
Reagent Chemicals, American Chemical Society Specifications, American
Chemical Society, Washington, DC. For suggestions on the testing of reagents not
listed by the American Chemical Society, see Analar Standards for Laboratory
This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee B-1 on Chemicals, BDH Ltd., Poole, Dorset, U.K., and the United States Pharmacopeia
Electrical Conductors and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee B01.06 on and National Formulary, U.S. Pharmaceutical Convention, Inc. (USPC), Rockville,
Composite Conductors. MD.
Current edition approved July 15, 1993. Published September 1993. Originally Available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, (NIST),
published as B 559 – 72. Last previous edition B 559 – 88e . Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
B 559
TABLE 1 Nickel Mass Percent and Thickness of Coating
Thickness of Nickel,μ in.
Diameter Cross-Sectional Area at 20°C
(for information only)
2 2
in. mm cmil in. mm 2.0 % 4.0 % 7.0 % 10.0 % 27.0 %
0.0720 1.829 5 180 0.00407 2.63 334 637 1 181 1 703 4 892
0.0641 1.628 4 110 0.00323 2.08 298 566 1 050 1 514 4 349
0.0571 1.450 3 260 0.00256 1.65 266 505 936 1 350 3 880
0.0508 1.290 2 580 0.00203 1.31 236 450 833 1 200 3 452
0.0453 1.151 2 050 0.00161 1.04 211 401 743 1 071 3 077
0.0403 1.024 1 620 0.00128 0.823 202 357 661 953 2 738
0.0359 0.912 1 290 0.00101 0.653 167 318 589 849 2 439
0.0320 0.813 1 020 0.000804 0.519 149 283 525 757 2 174
0.0285 0.724 812 0.000638 0.412 133 252 467 686 1 937
0.0253 0.643 640 0.000503 0.324 118 224 415 598 1 719
0.0226 0.574 511 0.000401 0.259 105 200 371 535 1 536
0.0201 0.511 404 0.000317 0.205 94 178 330 475 1 366
0.0179 0.455 320 0.000252 0.162 83 158 294 423 1 216
0.0159 0.404 253 0.000199 0.128 74 141 261 376 1 080
0.0142 0.361 202 0.000158 0.102 66 126 233 336 965
0.0126 0.320 159 0.000125 0.0804 59 112 207 298 856
0.0113 0.287 128 0.000100 0.0647 53 100 185 267 768
0.0100 0.254 100 0.0000785 0.0507 47 89 164 237 680
0.0089 0.226 79.2 0.0000622 0.0401 41 80 146 211 605
0.0080 0.203 64.0 0.0000503 0.0324 . 71 131 189 544
0.0071 0.180 50.4 0.0000396 0.0255 . 63 116 168 482
0.0063 0.160 39.7 0.0000312 0.0201 . 56 103 149 428
0.0056 0.142 31.4 0.0000246 0.0159 . 50 92 132 381
0.0050 0.127 25.0 0.0000196 0.0127 . 44 82 118 340
0.0045 0.114 20.2 0.0000159 0.0103 . 40 74 106 306
0.0040 0.102 16.0 0.0000126 0.00811 . . 66 95 272
0.0035 0.089 12.2 0.00000962 0.00621 . . 57 83 238
0.0031 0.079 9.61 0.00000755 0.00487 . . 51 73 211
4. Ordering Information TABLE 2 Resistivity
Resistivity, max at 20°C
4.1 Orders for material under this specification shall include
the following information: Class of Wire Nickel V-mm /m
Mass %
4.1.1 Quantity of each size.
N30A and N30HS 2 0.05906 (0.059062)
4.1.2 Wire size (see Section 7 and Table 1).
4 0.05951 (0.059513)
4.1.3 Class of basis wire (see 1.3).
7 0.06021 (0.060210)
4.1.4 Mass percentage of nickel coating (see 1.2 and
10 0.06093 (0.060926)
27 0.06543 (0.065433)
Table 1).
4.1.5 Package size (see 14.2 and Section 14). Packaging
N40A and N40HS 2 0.04442 (0.044418)
inspection, if required (see 9.1.3). 4 0.04490 (0.044902)
7 0.04561 (0.045614)
4.1.6 Special package marking, if required.
10 0.04636 (0.046362)
4.1.7 Place of inspection (see 13.1).
27 0.05122 (0.051216)
5. Materials and Manufacture
NOTE 4—Relationships which may be useful in connection with the
5.1 The basis material shall consist of copper-clad steel wire
values of electrical resistivity prescribed in this specification are shown in
conforming to the product description, quality and specifica- 2 2
Table 3. Resistivity units ⁄58 V-mm /m and 0.15328 V-g/m at 20°C are
tion requirements of Specification B 452.
respectively the international equivalent of volume and mass resistivity of
5.2 The nickel-coated wire shall consist of the basis wire
annealed copper equal to 100 % conductivity. The latter term means that
coated with nickel (Note 3). The quality of the nickel-coated a copper wire1min length and weighing 1 g would have a resistance of
0.15328 V. This is equivalent to a resistivity value of 875.20 V·lb/mile ,
wire shall be such that the finished product meets the properties
which signifies the resistance of a copper wire 1 mile in length weighing
and requirements in this specification.
1 lb. The volume resistivity is equivalent, for example, to 1.7241 μV cm
NOTE 3—Nickel on copper-clad steel wire provides a protective coating of length of a copper bar 1 cm in cross section. A complete discussion of
for a prevention of oxidation of the copper either during fabrication or
this subject is contained in NBS Handbook 100. The use of five significant
service. figures in expressing resistivity does not imply the need for a greater
accuracy of measurement than that specified in Test Method B 193. The
6. General Requirements
use of five significant figures is required for complete reversible conver-
sion from one set of resistivity units to another.
6.1 Tensile strength and elongation of the nickel-coated
wire shall conform to the requirements of Specification B 452 6.3 Continuity of Coating—The nickel coating shall be
for the applicable size and class of copper-clad steel wire. continuous. The continuity of the coating shall be determined
6.2 Resistivity—The electrical resistivity at a temperature of on representative samples taken before stranding or insulating
20°C shall not exceed the values prescribed in Table 2. See and shall be determined by the sodium polysulfide test, in
Note 4 for calculating electrical resistance. accordance with 10.2. Wire whose coating weight corresponds
B 559
TABLE 3 Equivalent Resistivity Values
Resistivity Equivalents at 20°C
Volume
Nickel
Conduc- Volume Mass
Class Mass
tivity at 20°C
% V·lb/
2 2
% IACS V·mm /m V·cmil/ft μV·in. μV·cm V·g/m
mile
N40A and 2 38.814 0.044418 26.72 1.7489 4.4418 2067.2 0.36202
N40HS
4 38.379 0.044902 27.01 1.7679 4.4902 2089.7 0.36596
7 37.795 0.045614 27.44 1.7960 4.5614 2122.8 0.37176
10 37.185 0.046362 27.89 1.8254 4.6362 2157.6 0.37786
27 33.661 0.051216 30.81 2.0165 5.1216 2383.5 0.41742
N30A and 2 29.190 0.059062 35.53 2.3253 5.9062 2748.5 0.48135
N30HS
4 28.969 0.059513 35.80 2.3431 5.9513 2769.5 0.48503
7 28.633 0.060210 36.22 2.3706 6.0210 2802.0 0.49071
10 28.297 0.060926 36.65 2.3987 6.0926 2835.3 0.49654
27 26.349 0.065433 39.36 2.5762 6.5433 3045.0 0.53328
to a thickness less than 50 μ in. (0.00005 in.) (1.3 μm) shall not
TABLE 4 Sampling for Surface Finish and Packaging Inspection
be subject to this test.
Allowable
Number of
6.4 Adherence of Coating—The nickel coating shall be Number of Units Number of
Units in
in Lot Defective
firmly adhered to the surface of the copper-clad steel wire. The
Sample, n
Units, c
adherence of coating on the wire shall be determined on
1 to 30, incl all 0
representative samples taken before stranding or insulating.
31 to 50, incl 30 0
The adherence of coating shall be determined by the wrapping,
51 to 100, incl 37 0
101 to 200, incl 40 0
and immersion test in accordance with 10.3.
201 to 300, incl 70 1
6.5 Mass of Coating—The mass of nickel coating expressed
301 to 500, incl 100 2
in percent of the total mass of the wire shall be not less than the
501 to 800, incl 130 3
Over 800 155 4
percentage specified and referred to in this specification or the
percentage as agreed on between the manufacturer and pur-
chaser at the time of the placing of the order. For ease of
in the sample showing surface defects not consistent with
comparison, the thickness of coating for various percentages
commercial practice shall not exceed the allowable defect
has been included in Table 1.
number c in Table 4. Failure to meet this requirement shall
6.6 Joints—Necessary joints in the wire and rods prior to
constitute failure to meet the finish conformance criterion.
final coating and drawing shall be made in accordance with
good commercial practice.
9. Sampling
9.1 The number of production units in a sample (Note 6)
7. Dimensions, Mass, and Permissible Variations
shall be as follows:
7.1 The wire sizes shall be expressed as the diameter of the
NOTE 6—Cumulative results secured on the product of a single manu-
wire in decimal fractions of an inch to the nearest 0.0001 in.
facturer, indicating continued conformance to the criteria, are necessary to
(0.003 mm) (Note 5). For diameters under 0.0100 in. (0.254
ensure an over-all product meeting the requirements of this specification.
mm), the wire shall not vary from the specified diameter by
The sample size and conformance criteria given for the various charac-
more than + 0.0003 in. (0.009 mm) and − 0.0001 in. (0.003
teristics are applicable only to lots produced under these conditions.
mm) and for diameters of 0.0100 in. (0.254 mm) and over, the
9.1.1 For tensile strength, elongation, resistivity, mass of
wire shall not vary from the specified diameter by more
coating and adhesion and other defects, the sample shall
than+3% and−1%, expressed to the nearest 0.0001 in.
consist of four production units. For surface finish the sampling
(0.003 mm).
shall be in accordance with Table 4. From each unit, one test
NOTE 5—The values of the wire diameters in Table 1 are given to the
specimen of sufficient length shall be removed for the perfor-
nearest 0.0001 in. (0.003 mm) and correspond to the standard sizes given
mance of required tests.
in Specification B 258. The use of gage numbers to specify wire sizes is
9.1.2 For dimensional measurements, the sample shall con-
not recognized in this specification because of the possibility of confusion.
sist of a quantity of production units shown in Table 5 under
An excellent discussion of wire gages and related subjects is contained in
heading“ First Sample.”
NBS Handbook 100.
9.1.3 For packaging inspection (when specified by the
8. Workmanship, Finish, and Appearance
purchaser at the time of placing the order), the sample shall
8.1 The nickel coating shall consist of a smooth, continuous consist of a quantity of production units as shown in Table 4.
layer, firmly adherent to the surface of the copper. The wire
10. Test Methods
shall be bright and free from all imperfections not consistent
with good commercial practice. 10.1 Tensile Properties—For tensile strength, elongation,
8.2 The finish of the samples taken in accordance with Table resistivity, dimensional measurement, and the quality of the
4 shall conform to the requirements of 8.1. The number of units basis wire, the latest issue of Specification B 452 shall apply
B 559
TABLE 5 Sampling for Dimensional Measurements
First Sample Second Sample
Number of Units
Allowable Number Allowable Number
Number of Units Number of Units
in Lot
of Defects in n + n of Defects in Both
1 2
in Sample, n in Sample n
1 2
Sample c Samples, c
1 2
1 to 14, incl all 0 . . 0
15 to 50, incl 14 0 . . 0
51 to 100, incl 19 0 23 42 1
101 to 200, incl
...