Estimate wire or cable bundle diameter, solve for a single-wire outside diameter, or find maximum wire count with packing, braid, jacket, and mixed-size options.

Estimate a round wire or cable bundle

Required: wire outside diameter and number of wires.

Use finished OD including insulation.

Group 1 — required

Group 2 — optional

Group 3 — optional

1.20 is a common planning estimate; 1.00 is ideal area only.

Added once to the finished diameter.

Radial thickness; twice this value is added.

Estimated result

Planning estimate only. Actual diameter varies with lay, stiffness, compression, shielding, and manufacturing method.

Bundle Diameter Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the Bundle Diameter.

BD = SQRT (4 * (N*(PI*D² / 4)) / PI)
  • Where BD is the bundle diameter (in)
  • N is the number of wires
  • D is the diameter of the wires

What is a Bundle Diameter?

Definition:

A bundle diameter is the total diameter of a collection of wires packed in a circular shape.

How to Calculate Bundle Diameter?

Example Problem:

The following example outlines the steps and information needed to calculate Bundle Diameter.

First, determine the diameter of wires. In, this case, the wire diameters are 50mm.

Next, determine the number of wires. For this bundle, there will be 100 wires.

Finally, calculate the bundle diameter using the formula above:

BD = SQRT ( 4 * (N*(PI*D^2/4)) / PI )

BD = SQRT ( 4 * (100*(3.14159*50^2/4)) / 3.141519)

BD = 500 mm.