IS : 12444 - 1988

(Reaffirmed 1998)
Edition 1.1
UDC 669.387-422-147 : 621.315.55 (1992-12)

Indian Standard
SPECIFICATION FOR
CONTINUOUSLY CAST AND ROLLED ELECTROLYTIC COPPER
WIRE RODS FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS
(Incorporating Amendment No. 1)

1. Scope — This standard covers the requirements of EC grade copper wire rods up to 18 mm in
nominal diameter, produced by continuous casting and rolling for the manufacture of electrical round
and rectangular conductors.
2. Terminology — For the purpose of this standard, the following definition as given in IS : 3288
(Part 3)-1986 ‘Glossary of terms relating to copper and copper alloys: Part 3 Wrought form’, shall
Copper and Copper Alloys Sectional Committee, SMDC 11 [Ref : Doc : SMDC 11 (3022)]

apply.
2.1 Wire Rod — Rod like product of uniform cross section exceeding 6 mm used as intermediate
product for further working, supplied in coil form.
3. Supply of Material — General requirements relating to the supply of material shall conform to
IS : 1387-1967 ‘General requirements for the supply of metallurgical materials ( first revision )’.
4. Chemical Composition
4.1 The material shall have chemical composition of ETP Copper as given in Table 1, reproduced
from IS : 191 (Part 5)-1980 ‘Specification for copper: Part 5 Electrolytic tough pitch copper (ETP)
( third revision )’.

TABLE 1 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Element Percent

Copper + Silver, Min 99.90

Bismuth, Max 0.001
Lead, Max 0.005
Total of all impurities excluding silver and oxygen, Max 0.03

Note — Oxygen should be limited to 0.06 percent subject to agreement between the supplier and the purchaser.

4.2 The chemical composition shall be determined by the methods specified in IS : 440-1964 ‘Methods
of chemical analysis of copper ( revised )’ or any other established instrumental/chemical method. In
case of dispute, the procedure specified in IS : 440-1964 shall be the referee method.
4.3 The method for determination of oxygen shall be as agreed to between the supplier and the
purchaser.
5. Dimension and Tolerances
5.1 Dimension — The wire rods shall be supplied in diameter as required by the purchaser, between
6 mm and 18 mm both inclusive. The diameter shall be determined by the method as given in 5.1.1.
5.1.1 Discard approximately 2.5 m length from the end of the coil. Measurement shall be made with
accuracy better than 0.01 mm with a micrometer. The measurement shall be made with a pressure of
1 to 3 MPa.
5.2 Tolerances
5.2.1 The wire rod shall be continuously cast and rolled up to nominal diameter of 18.0 mm within
the permissible variation as given in Table 2. Three measurements at 60° angular displacement shall
be made around circumference at two places 4 metres apart. An average of six readings shall be
considered as the diameter of the wire rod. No individual reading should exceed the tolerance limit.
Any special tolerance on diameter shall be as agreed between the purchaser and the supplier.

Adopted 25 June 1988 © BIS 2003 Price Group 2

BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS

MANAK BHAVAN , 9 BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR MARG
NEW DELHI 110002
IS : 12444 - 1988

TABLE 2 TOLERANCE ON DIAMETER

( Clause 5.2.1 )
(All values in mm)

 Diameter Tolerance






















Over Up to and including

6 9 ± 0.5
9 12 ± 0.7
12 18 ± 0.9

5.2.2 Ovality of the wire rod — The measurement shall be carried out in accordance with 5.1.1.
Ovality shall be not more than 100 percent of the tolerance. Measurement shall be done at two
places 4 metres apart, and at each point, 4 readings at 45° to each other shall be taken. Ovality
shall be measured by obtaining the difference in a pair of readings taken at 90° to each other. The
maximum difference obtained at each point shall be termed as the maximum ovality.
6. Freedom from Defects — The surface of the pickled wire rod shall be fairly smooth,
untarnished, free from oxide, inclusions or foreign particles, indentation, twists, entanglements,
etc.
7. Mechanical Properties
7.1 Tensile Test — When tested in accordance with IS : 2654-1977 ‘Method for tensile testing of
copper and copper alloys ( first revision )’ for tensile strength and elongation, the material shall
meet the requirements as given in Table 3.

TABLE 3 TENSILE PROPERTIES

Diameter Tensile Elongation on

Strength, Gauge Length


















Over Up to and Min of 250 mm, Min

including
mm mm MPa Percent

6 9 210 32
9 12 205 40
12 18 200 46
2 2 2
Note — 1MPa = 1 MN/m = 1 N/mm = 0.102 kgf/mm .

7.2 Surface Test ( Compression Test ) — A sample of wire rod, from a rolled coil, of length twice the
diameter of the wire rod is to be cut and then hammered till its length becomes half of the original
length. The curved surface, for example, periphery after test, shall not show any crack or defect on
the surface when viewed with normal vision.
8. Sampling and Criteria for Conformity
8.1 Unless otherwise agreed to between the purchaser and the supplier, the following sampling
procedure and critieria for conformity shall hold good.
8.2 In any consignment, all the coils of wire rod of same size, manufactured from same raw
material under similar condition of production at the same place, shall be grouped together to
constitute a lot.
8.3 Each coil of wire rod shall be examined for freedom from defects and for tolerance on diameter.
Any coil found defective shall be rejected.
8.4 One sample shall be tested from each coil for chemical analysis, tensile test, surface test from
the coils which have been found satisfactory in 8.3. From each sample, three test specimens, one
for chemical analysis, second for tensile test and the third for surface test, shall be prepared and
tested.
8.4.1 If the test result of chemical analysis as obtained for each of the elements satisfy the
corresponding requirements, the coil shall be considered as conforming to the chemical
composition requirements of this specification.
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 IS : 12444 - 1988

8.4.2 The coil shall be considered as conforming to the requirements of tensile properties and
compression properties if the test results of samples satisfy the corresponding requirements.
8.5 Retest — If the test result of chemical analysis fails to satisfy the requirement for any element,
two more tests for that element, shall be done on the same sample in order to confirm that the
analysis has been done properly. If both the test results satisfy the relevant requirements, the coil
shall be considered as conforming to the chemical composition requirements of this specification,
otherwise not.
8.5.1 If the test result on any sample for tensile test and surface test (compression test) fail to
satisfy the requirements for any of the mechanical properties and compression properties, two
more tests shall be done on samples taken from the same coil. If both the test results satisfy the
relevant requirements, the coil shall be considered as conforming to the corresponding
requirements of this specification, otherwise not.
9. Packing
9.1 The material shall be packed in coils, the mass of each coil shall be not more than 2 500 kg.
9.2 The coils shall be wrapped with polythene sheet. The quality and application of the wrapping
material shall be adequate to protect the wire rod coils from damage, rain, incidental to normal
handling and shipment.
10. Marking
10.1 Suitable tags with marking made on them to show the name of the manufacturer, size of the
wire rod, lot number, coil number, date of manufacture, mass and any such information required
by the purchaser, shall be attached with each coil of the material.
10.2 Standard Marking — The material may also be marked with the Standard Mark. The details
of standard marking scheme is available with the Bureau of Indian Standards.
11. Test Certificate — The manufacturer/supplier shall provide test certificate for each
consignment giving information like lot number, coil number, corresponding chemical composition,
tensile test and compression test results.

EXPLANATORY NOTE
The continuously cast and rolled copper wire rods are used in copper wire drawing industry as
draw stock, for electrical conductors. The quality of copper wire depends upon the quality of the
hot rolled copper wire rods.
This edition 1.1 incorporates Amendment No. 1 (December 1992). Side bar indicates
modification of the text as the result of incorporation of the amendment.

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 AMENDMENT NO. 2 MAY 2008
TO
IS 12444:1988SPECIFICATION FOR CONTINUOUSLY
CAST AND ROLLED ELECTROLYTIC COPPER WIRE
RODS FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS

(Page 1, Table 1) – Substitute the following for the existing:

Table 1 Chemieal Composition

I

●
g

1
7

.
Amend No. 2 to IS 12444:1988

(Page 2, Table 2) – Substitute the following for the existing table:

. Table 2 Tolerance on Diameter

(Clause 5.2.1)
(All values in mm)

Diameter Tolerance

F
I
Over

9 I
Up to and
Including
9

12.5 I
+ &38

&0.50 I

L- 12,5 21 * 0.50

(Page 3, clause 9.1) — Substitute the following for the existing:

‘The material shall be packed in coils. The package size shall be agreed upon
between the manufacturer and the purchaser.’

(MTD 8)

ReprographyUnitjBIS,New Delhi,India
2