Why is an aluminum alloy connector up to 4 times less costly than a copper or brass one?
Copper or brass material (bar or tube) costs about 2.5 times more than that of aluminum alloy per pound, and, due to the lightness of aluminum, aluminum is about 8 times less per unit volume! After compensating for aluminum alloy having a lower conductivity (40-50%) than that of copper (100%), the aluminum alloy cost advantage is about 75% off the cost of copper per amp conducted. Aluminum alloy has 50% more conductivity than brass and like brass, is readily machinable. Copper by contrast mostly has 20% machinability (C110 etc) which adds further to the cost of manufacture. Machinable copper alloys (C145, C147 etc) tend to be higher in cost and less suitable for forming complex shapes.
