Bundle Diameter Calculator

Last updated: 09 May 2024 | By: Build Wise Team

A Bundle Diameter Calculator helps you estimate the diameter of a bundle of wires or cables. It's useful for tasks like selecting cable entry points, ensuring proper space allocation, and minimizing wasted space.

Enter wire diameter and number of wire

Result:

Bundle Diameter Calculator

How to calculate bundle diameter?

For bundle diameter calculation mainly wire diameter and number of wires are required.

  • Number of Wires: This is the total number of wires in the bundle.
  • Wire Diameter: This is the diameter of a single wire in the bundle.

Optional Inputs (for more precise calculations):

  • Wire Insulation Thickness: This considers the thickness of the insulating material around each wire.
  • Bundle Tightness: This accounts for how tightly packed the wires are within the bundle. Tighter packing leads to a smaller overall diameter.

Calculate Base Diameter:

Calculates the base diameter of the bundle based on the provided wire Diameter and number Of Wires. It uses the square root function (Math.sqrt) to account for the geometric arrangement of circular wires in a bundle. 

Formula for base diameter:

Base Diameter=Wire Diameter×Number Of Wires

Including Insulation Thickness (Optional)

Insulation Thickness (if provided) into the diameter calculation. It adds twice the Insulation Thickness to the Base Diameter to account for the insulation on both sides of each wire. The result, which represents the diameter considering insulation, is stored in the diameter With Insulation variable.

Formula for add Insulation Thickness:

Diameter With Insulation=Base Diameter+(Insulation Thickness×2);\text{Diameter With Insulation} = \text{Base Diameter} + ( \text{Insulation Thickness} \times 2 );

Adjusting for Bundle Tightness (Optional):

This factor considers the tightness of the bundle packing. Tighter packing (smaller gaps between wires) results in a smaller overall diameter.


Tighter Bundle Factor=1-Bundle Tightness-12\text{Tighter Bundle Factor} = 1 - \frac{\text{Bundle Tightness} - 1}{2}

The calculation for tighter Bundle Factor uses the Bundle Tightness value. Values closer to 1 represent tighter packing, so we subtract Bundle Tightness from 1 and then divide by 2. This ensures the factor approaches 0 for tighter packing (smaller diameter) and 1 for looser packing (larger diameter).

Final Diameter=Diameter With Insulation×Tighter Bundle Factor\text{Final Diameter} = \text{Diameter With Insulation} \times \text{Tighter Bundle Factor}

Finally, the Diameter With Insulation (which already considers insulation) is multiplied by the Tighter Bundle Factor to adjust for the packing tightness. The resulting adjusted diameter is stored in the FinalDiameter variable.

Example:

  • Number of Wires (N_w) = 10
  • Wire Diameter (d_w) = 2 millimeters (mm)

Calculation:

Base Diameter = 2 mm x √(10) ≈ 6.3 mm (rounded to two decimal places)

This calculation gives us an estimated base diameter of 6.3 mm for the bundle without considering the insulation thickness.

Adding Insulation (Optional):

If you know the insulation thickness (let's say it's 0.5 mm for each wire), you can add it twice (once for each side of the wire) to the base diameter to get a more precise estimate of the diameter with insulation:

Diameter with Insulation = Base Diameter + (Insulation Thickness x 2)

Example:

  • Base Diameter = 6.3 mm (from previous calculation)
  • Insulation Thickness = 0.5 mm

Calculation:

Diameter with Insulation = 6.3 mm + (0.5 mm x 2) = 7.3 mm

Now, our estimated diameter with insulation is 7.3 mm.

Considering Bundle Tightness (Optional):

In real-world scenarios, wires might not be perfectly packed. A bundle diameter calculator might also incorporate a factor for bundle tightness. Tighter packing leads to a slightly smaller overall diameter.