Simple but powerful, bus bars play critical roles in a variety of electrical systems. Electrical bus bars collect, control, and distribute the flow of current through an electrical delivery system. They enable power to be gathered and distributed efficiently and safely. Learn more about bus bars, including the applications and fabrication options available for your needs.
Bus Bars Explained
At their most basic level, bus bars collect input currents and distribute them to output circuits. As a junction between input and output power, bus bars are made up of stamped conductive material, usually copper. Depending on the electrical type, bus bars can reduce maintenance, labor, and installation costs. Because they are fast and easy to connect and install, bus bars are used in a wide range of settings, such as:
- Data centers
- Automobiles (ICE & EV)
- Hospitals
- Computer systems
- Metro systems
- Railways
- Institutions
- Industrial facilities
Usually 0.050” to 0.250” in thickness, bus bars feature a circuit breaker and isolator. In the event of a fault, the circuit breaker is triggered and that area of the bus bar can be safely disconnected so that it can be serviced. The most common type of bus bars in electrical power distribution is rectangular.
Advantages of Bus Bars
Compared to conventional cables, bus bars provide a variety of advantages in design, efficiency, safety, and performance. These benefits include:
- Enhanced design versatility: Bus bars offer a variety of interconnection styles to fit any interface.
- Lower stray circuit inductance: Bus bar assemblies can be fabricated to minimize stray circuit inductance.
- Increased efficiency: They enable all required connections between components while increasing efficiency.
- Improved reliability: Bus bars reduce the risk of wiring errors and points of failure.
- Increased capacitance: Bus bars have more capacitance, which helps suppress noise.
- Lowered costs: Because they use fewer materials and simplify installation and maintenance, bus bars help lower overall costs.
- Heat dissipation: Designed for optimal airflow, bus bars can also serve as heat sinks.
Choosing Keats for Your Bus Bar Needs
Keats Manufacturing’s bus bar fabrication processes are designed to provide maximum quality while minimizing scrap waste and costs. As experts in strip layouts, our engineers know how to design and fabricate bus bars in the most material-efficient, cost-effective ways. Bus bar materials and options we work with include:
- Heavy gauge copper and copper alloys
- Pre- or post-plating options for enhanced corrosion protection
- Selective pre- or post plating
To produce our bus bars, we use progressive die-stamping technology and equipment that can accommodate:
- 60 to 200 tons of die stamping pressure
- Tooling transferred or staged according to the geometry of your part
- Strip widths equal to part widths, minimizing scrap per strip
- Large coil handling capabilities
- Hand-stacked packaging and custom cell packing to protect parts from scratches, if required
Quality Bus Bars From Keats Manufacturing
At Keats Manufacturing, our copper bus bars provide a high-quality, cost-effective solution for your electrical distribution needs. Whether you need bus bars for vehicles, power distribution, or other applications, our precision-stamped parts can meet or exceed your requirements. Contact us to learn more, or request a quote for your next project.