PILOTInteractive engineering workflow

IEC Cable Design & Verification Workflow

Work through one cable as an engineering decision: load → installation → ampacity & protection → voltage drop → short-circuit withstand → economic screening. Every step keeps its assumptions visible.

IEC 60364-5-52IEC 60364-4-43IEC 60287-3-2 conceptPASS / FAIL audit trail

WORKFLOW MODE

What are you solving?

Select the cable you already have. The workflow checks it and also shows the calculated technical minimum.

CIRCUIT

Define the electrical load

Start with the actual circuit operating point. You can enter current directly or derive it from kW / kVA.

READY

System Voltage V Load basis Design current Ib A Active power kW Apparent power kVA Power factor cos φ One-way cable length m

Calculated design current52.0 AIb entered directly

INSTALLATION

Describe the cable and how it is installed

The reference method establishes the thermal basis before correction factors are applied.

READY

Conductor Insulation Loaded conductors Reference data

Ambient air temperature °C Grouped circuits / cables Additional derating factorUse only when required by the adopted design basis. Selected conductor mm² Selected base ampacity A Alternative base ampacity A

Reference methodC

Base Iz—

Temperature factor—

Grouping factor—

Total factor—

Automatic mode reuses the same IEC reference dataset as ElectroDesigner IEC Cable Sizing. This workflow is still PILOT; verify table values, correction factors and the adopted standard edition before design release.

AMPACITY & PROTECTION

Check continuous current and protective-device coordination

The selected cable must carry the design current under corrected installation conditions and coordinate with the selected protective device.

—

Protective device In A

Ib ≤ In ≤ Iz—

Design current Ib—

Corrected ampacity Iz—

Utilization—

Technical minimum so far—

VOLTAGE DROP

Check the receiving-end voltage

Use the same circuit current, conductor and length. The R/X model includes power factor and an entered cable reactance.

—

Project voltage-drop target % Cable reactance X′ Ω/kmUse verified manufacturer/project data where available. Conductor temperature for R °C

3φ: ΔU = √3 · I · (R cosφ + X sinφ)—

Voltage drop—

Receiving voltage—

Project target—

SHORT-CIRCUIT THERMAL

Check fault-energy withstand

Use prospective fault current and clearing time, or verified total-clearing let-through I²t from the protective-device manufacturer.

—

Calculation basis Prospective Isc kA Clearing time s Total-clearing I²t A²s k factor A√s/mm²Verify the conductor / insulation / temperature basis.

I²t ≤ k²S²—

Fault energy—

Cable limit—

Required section—

Thermal utilization—

ECONOMIC SCREENING

Compare a larger conductor against lifecycle losses

Technical compliance comes first. This optional screen compares installed cable cost with discounted I²R energy losses for the selected cable and one larger alternative.

OPTIONAL

Alternative conductor mm² Selected cable installed cost €/m Alternative installed cost €/m Operating hours h/year Equivalent RMS current factorLosses scale with the square of this current factor. Energy price €/kWh Study period years Discount rate % Energy escalation %/year Representative conductor temperature °C

Scope: simplified lifecycle screening only. It uses conductor I²R losses, a constant equivalent RMS load factor and user-entered cost assumptions. It does not implement all IEC 60287-3-2 loss/cost terms.

Free cable verification reference

Use the IEC Cable Verification Reference Sheet as a printable decision map and design-review checklist alongside this interactive workflow.

What this workflow checks

The workflow combines the same engineering questions that are often split across separate calculations: current-carrying capacity under the chosen IEC reference installation method, protective-device coordination, R/X voltage drop, adiabatic short-circuit thermal withstand and an optional lifecycle-loss comparison.

Current-carrying and voltage-drop context follows IEC 60364-5-52. Overcurrent protection context follows IEC 60364-4-43. Economic sizing is a simplified screening model informed by the lifecycle-cost concept of IEC 60287-3-2; it is deliberately not presented as a complete implementation of that standard.

Use the supporting guides for the reasoning behind each step: cable sizing vs ampacity · installation methods · derating · voltage drop · short-circuit thermal withstand.

Reference editions used for scope: IEC 60364-5-52:2009+AMD1:2024; IEC 60364-4-43:2023; IEC 60287-3-2:2012. Verify the edition adopted by your project or jurisdiction.