Minimum Bending

Radii

The service life of a cable may be reduced if the cable is bent excessively either during installation
of the cable or in its final installed location. When planning an installation, bending radii should be
as large as possible and the values shown in the following table is recommended minimum
internal bending radii, to be considered the exception rather than the norm. At temperatures
approaching 00C paper insulated and PVC insulated cables should not be bent.

Multiply the cable diameter (mm) by the appropriate factor below to determine the minimum
radius (mm). Where two or more categories apply below, the largest bending factor is selected.

During
FIXED CABLE TYPES In Situ
Installation
NYLON sheathed
30X* 20X*
* In multiples of diameter over polyamide layer

Mica Glass taped

Fire Survival 12X 8X

LV(Up to 1kV) PVC/XLPE/Elastomer Insulated:

Unarmoured OD Up to 25mm 6X 4X
OD >25mm 9X 6X
Screened (CTS) 18X 12X
Steel Wire Armoured 18X 12X
Steel Tape Armoured 18X 12X

MV(3.3-33kV) XLPE/EPR Insulated:

Jacket: PVC 18X 12X
HDPE/MDPE 25X 15X

PAPER Insulated Lead Sheathed:

During
Without Former With Former
installation
Single Core 0-11kV & SL cable
15X 20X 15X
individual core
15-22kV 18X 20X 15X
33kV 21X 20X 15X
Multi-core 0-11kV 12X 15X 12X
15-22kV 15X 15X 12X
33kV 18X 15X 12X

FLEXIBLE CABLE TYPES Min. Bending

Radius
PVC/Elastomer Insulated:
Flexible cables and Cords: - Flexing 6X
-Installation 4X
wiring
Multi-core Control cables for Repeated reeling
applications:
Unit Construction type 6X
Uni-directional type 10X