Cable Trays

Prepared by:
Murtaza salim abbasi
GTE-Instrumentation
Definition:
• According to the National Electrical Code, a cable tray system is

“A unit or assembly of units or sections and associated fittings

forming a rigid structural system used to securely fasten or support
cables”

• Cable trays are used as an alternative to open wiring or electrical

conduit systems, and are commonly used for cable management
in commercial and industrial construction
Cable tray advantages include
• design flexibility

• simplicity

• lower installation cost

• cost of material procurement for cable tray systems is not necessarily

lower than that of conduit systems but the cost of installation
certainly is
Cable trays are capable of supporting all types of wiring:

1. High Voltage Power Lines

2. Power Distribution Cables
3. Sensitive Control Wiring
4. Telecommunication Wiring
5. Optical Cables
Types of Cable Trays:
• Ladder Type Cable Tray
• Solid Bottom Cable Tray
• Trough Cable Tray
• Channel Cable Tray
• Wire Mesh Cable Tray
• Single Rail Cable Tray
Ladder Cable Tray
 Features:
• Permits the maximum free flow of air across the cables therefore The
cables will not prematurely age due to excessive operating temperatures.

• Cables may exit or enter the ladder cable trays through the top or the
bottom of the cable tray

• Moisture can’t accumulate in ladder cable trays

• The most common rung spacing for ladder cable tray is 9 inches. 12 or 18
inch rung spacing provides adequate cable support but are sometimes not
acceptable aesthetically.
Ventilated Trough Cable Tray
 Features:

• The main reason to select a ventilated trough cable tray over a ladder
type cable tray is aesthetics.

• No drooping of small cables is visible.

• provide more support to the cables

Characteristics:

• Standard widths of 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 & 36 inches

• Standard depths of 3, 4, 5 & 6 inches

• Standard lengths of 10, 12, 20 & 24 feet

• Rung spacing of 6, 9, 12 & 18 inches.

Solid Bottom Cable Tray:
 Features:
• Provides good degree of Shielding Protection

• Generally used for minimal heat generating electrical or

telecommunication applications

• Moisture can build up in the cable trays which can be controlled by

drilling ¼ inch holes
 Characteristics:

• Available in metallic and fiberglass material

• Metal covers Standard widths of 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 & 36 inches

• Standard depths of 3, 4, 5 & 6 inches

• Standard lengths of 10, 12, 20 & 24 feet.

Channel Cable Tray
 Characteristics:
• Typically used by all industries to carry smaller instrumentation, data
communications, computer, telephone, control and fiber optic cable
• Economical support for cable drops and branch cable runs from the
backbone cable tray system
• Standard widths of 3, 4, & 6 inches in metal systems and up to 8
inches in nonmetallic systems
• Standard depths of 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 inches in metal systems and 1, 1
1/8, 1 5/8 in nonmetallic systems
• Standard length of 10, 12, 20 & 24 feet.
Wire Mesh Cable Tray:
Characteristics

• A job site, field adaptable support system primarily for low voltage,
telecommunication and fiber optic cables.
• These systems are typically steel wire mesh, zinc plated
• Standard widths of 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 18, 20 & 24 inches
• Standard depths of 1, 2 & 4 inches
• Standard length of about 10 feet.
Single Rail Cable Tray:
 Characteristics

• Generally used for low voltage and power cable installations where
maximum cable freedom, side fill and speed to install are factors.
• Single hung or wall mounted systems in single or multiple tiers
• Standard widths are 6, 9, 12, 18 & 24 inches
• Standard depths are 3, 4 & 6 inches
• Standard lengths are 10 & 12 feet.
Finishing/ Protection of Cable Trays

Cable Trays are coated to protect against variety of

 Chemicals
 Environmental Factors
 Corrosion

This will increase the durability of the Cable Trays. Different coating are used
according to the conditions.
Corrosion depending upon the potential difference B/w Conductors

Even when two dissimilar metals are in moist contact,

electrochemical corrosion need not necessarily take place.
Its likelihood depends upon the potential difference
between the two metals;
Zinc is used as a corrosion resistant agent. Why?
• Because zinc appears near the top of the Galvanic Series it
is highly reactive compared to SS or CS. Therefore, acts as a
sacrificial anode and develop an oxide layer around the
tray.
Three main types used are :
1. Galvanized Coating
2. Pre Galvanized Coating
3. Hot Dip Galvanized coating
Galvanized Coatings
• The most widely used coating for cable tray is galvanizing.
It is cost-effective, protects against a wide variety of
environmental chemicals

• Steel is coated with zinc through electrolysis by dipping

steel into a bath of zinc salts.

• Resistance to corrosion is directly related to the thickness

of the coating and the harshness of the environment.
Pre Galvanized Coating
• Pre-galvanized, also known as mill-galvanized or hot dip
mill-galvanized

• It is produced in a rolling mill by passing steel coils through

molten zinc. These coils are then slit to size and fabricated.

• Pre-galvanized steel is not generally recommended for

outdoor use or in industrial environments.
Hot Dip Galvanized
• The entire tray is immersed in a bath of molten zinc, resulting in a
coating of all surfaces, as well as all edges, holes and welds.

• Coating thickness is determined by the length of time each part is

immersed in the bath and the speed of removal.

• The process is recommended for cable tray used in most outdoor

environments and many harsh industrial environment applications.
 Cable Tray Materials:
• Cable Trays are generally made of three materials;

• 1. Aluminum

• 2. Steel

• 3. Stainless Steel
Aluminum
• high strength-to-weight ratio

• superior resistance to corrosive environments

• ease of installation

• Relatively Costly
Steel
• high strength and low cost

• more weight

• relatively poor corrosion resistance

• Some of the Types are Carbon Steel, mild steel etc

Stainless Steel
• offers high yield strength & high creep strength, at high ambient
temperatures

• Many grades of stainless steel are available but the one generally used in
aggressive marine environments is BS EN 10088 Grade 1-4404 (equivalent
to 316L31).

• For less aggressive environments BS EN 10088 Grade 1-4301 (equivalent to

304, BS 1449: Part 2) is the normal grade

• Stainless Steel is resistant to dyestuffs, organic chemicals, and inorganic

chemicals at elevated temperatures

• Highly corrosion resistant

 Support systems
To design a safe system it is necessary to check each
element in turn to ensure:
• that it can safely support the loads being imposed upon it,
that the proposed fixings to adjacent components are also
sufficient for the intended load.
• Any declared deflection limits are not exceeded.
Beams
There are four basic beam configurations may be found in a typical
installation:

• Simply supported beam

• Fixed beam
• Continuous beam
• Cantilever
Simply supported beam
• A single length of cable ladder, cable tray or channel mounted on, but
not restrained by two supports, represents a simply supported beam
which will bend as any load is applied to it with the supports offering
no restraint to this bending.
Fixed Beams
A fixed beam arrangement (Figure 2c) is a single structural
member with both ends fastened rigidly to supports.
Continuous beam
Cable tray installation behaves largely as a continuous beam
and the greater the number of spans the closer the similarity.
Cantilever Beam
This type of arrangement most commonly occurs with
the brackets which are used to support cable ladder or
cable tray, these being fixed to the structure at one end
only.
All beams will deflect when a load is imposed.
All beams will deflect when a load is imposed. The magnitude of the
deflection depends upon the following factors:
• The load on the beam,
• The load type – UDL (uniformly distributed load) or point load,
• The distance between the beam supports (span),
• How the beam is fixed and supported,
• The size of the beam,
• The material of the beam.
 Installation
• Common tools for installation
 Marking of Cable Tray
• Using a square that reaches across the width of the cable tray, gauge
off the edge of one side rail and mark both flanges.
• Mark the web of the rail. Marking can be done with a scribe, marking
pen, or a pencil.
 Cutting of Cable Tray:
• The cutting can be made using a hand-held hack saw, a circular saw
with carbide-tip or diamond-dusted blade,
• After cutting, smooth the cut edges to remove any burrs. Fiberglass
material should be cut with a circular saw or a diamond dusted blade.
 Cable Tray Supports
• 1. Trapeze Support (Single or Multi-tier)
• 2. Hanger rod clamps, "J" hangers
• 3. Center Hung Support
• 4. Wall Support
• 5. Under floor Support
• 6. Single Channel Cable Tray Hanger
• 7. Double Channel Cable Tray Hanger
 Base Plates
• Base plates are generally used to fix vertical lengths of
channel section to a firm floor and are generally connected
to channels in the following fashion:
 Beam clamps
• Beam clamps are generally used to fix lengths of channel section to
existing supporting beams and are generally connecting channel to
beam for medium loads as shown:
Channel type cantilever arm:
Channel type cantilever arms are generally used to provide support to services on a framework
installation.
Cantilever arm providing support to the Cable Tray
Channel Type Trapeze hangers
A support assembly consisting of parallel vertical rods which are
suspended from a structure and connected at their lower ends by a
horizontal member from which the pipe is supported. It is used for the
suspension of pipe from two rods where longitudinal movement due to
expansion or contraction may occur.
Wall support brackets
Wall support brackets are an effective way of fixing any width of a
cable tray, running either vertically or horizontally, to a vertical
support.
 Hold down brackets and clips
• Hold down brackets and clips are used for securing cable ladder and
cable tray to horizontal supports. If allowance for thermal expansion
is required then the brackets and clips are generally not fixed to the
cable ladder or cable tray.
 Couplers:
• Couplers are used to join together two separate components,
whether that may be lengths, fittings or a combination of both.
Couplers are supplied in pairs or individually
Straight coupler
• Straight couplers are used for joining together straight lengths and
or fittings.
Flexible expansion coupler
Flexible expansion couplers can be used to:
• provide a semi-flexible joint where straight cable ladder or
cable tray runs span separate structures between which
some relative movement is possible to avoid affects of
thermal expansion & contraction.
Distance between expansion joints

• The distance between expansion joints (Figure 17) should

be calculated by the following formula.
D = E/(KT)
• D = distance between expansion joints (m)
• E = allowable movement for each expansion joint (m)
• T = temperature range [Maximum temperature – minimum
temperature] (ºC)
• K = coefficient of linear expansion of the material (ºC-1)
Coefficient of linear expansion for different materials:

• Mild steel 13 x10-6 °C-1

• Stainless steel grade 1.4404 (316) 16 x10-6 °C-1
• PVC 55 x10-6 °C-1
Mild steel cable ladder, with K = 13 x 10-6 °C-1
Allowable movement at each expansion joint E = 28 mm = 0.028 m
Temperature range of installation T = -15 ºC to +35 ºC = 50 ºC
Maximum distance ‘D’ between expansion joints
D=E/(KT) =0.028/(13 x 10-6 x 50) = 43 m
For ease of installation an expansion coupler should be fitted every
14th length of 3m
ladder giving 42m between expansion couplers.
Bendable coupler
Bendable couplers can be used for:
• Fabricating fittings on site from cut lengths of cable ladder.
• Correcting minor misalignment problems.
• Coupling lengths of cable ladder to form articulated bends.
Vertical hinged coupler
Vertical hinged couplers can be used for:
• Solving minor vertical misalignment problems.
• Coupling articulated risers to adjacent cable ladders.
Horizontal hinged coupler
• Horizontal hinged couplers can be used for:
• Fabricating fittings on site from cut lengths of cable ladder.
• Solving minor horizontal misalignment problems.
• Forming horizontal bends at non-standard angles.
 Fittings
• Factory fabricated items which facilitate a change of direction and
width and provide intersections between ladders & tray runs.

The standard range of fittings would include such items as a

• flat bend
• inside or outside riser
• equal or unequal tee
• 4-way crossover
• reducer
Flat Bend:
Inside or Outside riser:
Vertical Tee
Repair of damaged surfaces
• Cable ladders or cable trays that have been hot dip galvanized after
manufacture will need to be repaired after cutting, drilling and de-
burring.

• Repairing a galvanized finish is usually done using a zinc rich paint.

• mill galvanized steels do not need to be repaired because they are not
designed to be used in heavily corrosive atmospheres
Grounding of Metallic Cable Trays
• All metallic cable trays shall be grounded to avoid hazard and short
circuits.
• The Equipment Grounding Conductor EGC is the most important
conductor in an electrical system as its function is electrical safety.

There are three wiring options for providing an EGC in a cable tray
wiring system:
• An EGC conductor in or on the cable tray.
• Each multi-conductor cable with its individual EGC conductor.
• The cable tray itself is used as the EGC in qualifying facilities.
Other Finished applications:
• Powder coating may be applied as a protective finish but more
generally it is requested as a decorative layer applied to systems
already protected by a zinc coating.
Pickling & Passivation

• Both pickling and passivation are chemical treatments applied to the

surface of stainless steel to remove contaminants and assist the
formation of a continuous chromium-oxide, passive film.
Pickling
Mixtures of nitric and hydrofluoric acid are usually used for this
process.

• The pickling process on the surface of stainless steel is carried out to

remove a thin layer of carbon steel contamination from the surface of
the component.

• used to remove weld heat tinted layers from the surface of stainless
steel which may be deprived of oxygen allowing localised forms of
crevice or pitting attack to form corrosion.
Passivation
• Common passivation treatments include nitric acid (HNO3) solutions
or pastes which will clean the steel surface of free iron contaminants.

• This passivation treatment reduces the

• corrosion risk on stainless steel
• leaves a Matt grey smooth finish.
Result of Pickling and Passivation:
Health and Safety:
• The use and installation of cable trays is covered by legally
enforceable OSHA regulations in 29 CFR 1910.305(a)(3), or
comparable standards promulgated by States operating
OSHA-approved State plans.
All installations will be subject to health & safety regulations. Installers
should always be familiar with the health & safety regulations.
• Always wear goggles and adequate skin cover.
• Inspect equipment before each day's work and correct any abnormal
conditions.
• Make sure all valves, lines, and connections are secure in order to
reduce the chance of either leaks or being doused during transfer.
• Cable trays, and the conductors and cable they contain, must be
listed as suitable in the environment in which they are installed.
• Where cable trays pass through fire-rated partitions, walls and
floors, appropriate fire stops should be provided in accordance with
guidance provided by NEC Section 300.21.
• Cable trays in hazardous locations must only contain the wiring
permitted in such locations.
• Abandoned cables within cable trays should be removed.
• Grounding of cable tray systems is essential for personal safety
• Work on cable tray installations may expose employees to live parts.
According to 29 CFR 1910.333(a)(1) de-energization of live parts to
which an employee may be exposed is required before employees
begin work on or near them.