current carrying capability

yes

Shawn: short and straight to the point.

answer is here : http://www.electricianmath.com/neccalculations/busbarampacity.htm

The current capacity of Aluminum conductor is 710Amp./1square inch of conductor area.@ room temp. (20°C). This number is de-rated as temperature is increasing. Max allowable conductor temp. as per the NEC, for continues operation in free air is 50°C. If at rated capacity (for lack of ventilation for example,) temp. rise is over the max permitted, than next size conductor must be used. The conductivity is already taken into account in this number.

Hope it helps

Wangito.

Hi,

But the normal ambient temperature considerd being 50 deg. C.

Regards,

N.Suresh

If 50°C is your ambient, and without too much calculations, from the tip of my head I would say double the bus-bar size. (i.e 300A/inch²) avoiding sharp turns and watching for possible bi-metal reactions between your fastening hardware and the Al bus-bar.

Why use Al anyhow? I hate Al as a bus-bar material...

Wangito.

IEEE std 605 gives long and very detailed instructions on calculating the ampacity of bus bars at differing temperatures and geometries. It even goes into support spacing and the effect on SC withstand. Covers Al and Cu...