An electric wire conductor having both flexibility and a space-saving property. Also provided are a covered electric wire and a wiring harness containing the electric wire conductor. An electric wire conductor contains a wire strand containing a plurality of elemental wires twisted together. The electric wire conductor has a flat portion in which a cross section intersecting an axial direction of the wire strand has a flat shape. Assuming a conductor cross-sectional area of the flat portion as s mm.sup.2 and a vacancy ratio defined as a ratio of vacancies not occupied by the elemental wires in a cross section of the flat portion as v %, the conductor cross-sectional area and the vacancy ratio satisfies v>0.29 s+2.0. The covered electric wire contains electric wire conductor and an insulator covering the conductor. The wiring harness contains the covered electric wire.

An aluminum alloy wire composed of an aluminum alloy, wherein the aluminum alloy contains more than or equal to 0.03 mass % and less than or equal to 1.5 mass % of Mg, more than or equal to 0.02 mass % and less than or equal to 2.0 mass % of Si, and a remainder of Al and an inevitable impurity, Mg/Si being more than or equal to 0.5 and less than or equal to 3.5 in mass ratio, and the aluminum alloy wire has a dynamic friction coefficient of less than or equal to 0.8.

Highly uniform and thin silver nanowires are described having average diameters below 20 nm and a small standard deviation of the diameters. The silver nanowires have a high aspect ratio. The silver nanowires can be characterized by a small number of nanowires having a diameter greater than 18 nm as well as with a blue shifted narrow absorption spectrum in a dilute solution. Methods are described to allow for the synthesis of the narrow uniform silver nanowires. Transparent conductive films formed from the thin, uniform silver nanowires can have very low levels of haze and low values of ΔL*, the diffusive luminosity, such that the transparent conductive films can provide little alteration of the appearance of a black background.

An electric wire conductor capable of achieving both flexibility and a space-saving property, a covered electric wire and a wiring harness including such an electric wire conductor. The electric wire conductor contains a wire strand containing a plurality of elemental wires twisted together, and has a flat portion where a cross-section intersecting an axial direction of the wire strand has a flat shape. A covered electric wire contains the electric wire conductors and an insulator covering the electric wire conductors. A wiring harness contains such covered electric wires.

A covered electrical wire including a conductor and an insulating coating layer covering an outer periphery of the conductor, in which the conductor is a twisted wire obtained by concentrically twisting together a plurality of elemental wires constituted by a copper alloy, the copper alloy contains one or more elements selected from Fe, Ti, Mg, Sn, Ag, Ni, In, Zn, Cr, Al, and P in a total amount of 0.01 mass % to 5.5 mass % inclusive, and the remaining portion includes Cu and inevitable impurities, and an amount of oil adhering to a surface of a central elemental wire disposed at a central portion of the twisted wire is 10 μg/g or less with respect to the mass of the central elemental wire.

Disclosed is a method for forming a square-wire conductor, which includes: providing a circular conductor with a diameter d; passing the conductor through a gap of a longitudinal calendaring roller to longitudinally calender the conductor up and down to form a conductor with flat upper and lower surfaces, the gap L1 of the longitudinal calendering roller is 0.886 d to 0.911 d; longitudinally and transversely straightening the conductor; passing the conductor through a gap of a transverse calendering roller to transversely calender the conductor left and right to form a conductor with flat left and right surfaces, the gap L2 of the transverse calendering roller is 0.886 d to 0.911 d; and longitudinally and transversely straightening the conductor.

An ultra high temperature mineral-insulated shielded cabled is provided as a non-sintered compacted powder, where central conductors and/or a sheath are made of a conducting material selected from tantalum, tungsten, rhodium, rhenium, carbon, and a mixture of at least two of such materials. The mineral insulator is made of an insulating material selected from boron nitride, yttrium oxide, silicon nitride, aluminium nitride, and a mixture of such materials. The conductor is tantalum and the insulator is selected from hafnia, boron nitride, silicon nitride, and a mixture of such materials, in particular for a use at a temperature lower than 1 630° C. or 1 600° C.; or aluminium nitride, in particular at a temperature lower than 1 530° C. or 1 500° C. A device including this cable used below 1800° C., particularly under 1 600° C., in particular under vacuum, as a heating element or transmission cable.

An electric wire conductor having both flexibility and a space-saving property. Also provided are a covered electric wire and a wiring harness containing the electric wire conductor. An electric wire conductor contains a wire strand containing a plurality of elemental wires twisted together. The electric wire conductor has a flat portion in which a cross section intersecting an axial direction of the wire strand has a flat shape. Assuming a conductor cross-sectional area of the flat portion as s mm.sup.2 and a vacancy ratio defined as a ratio of vacancies not occupied by the elemental wires in a cross section of the flat portion as v %, the conductor cross-sectional area and the vacancy ratio satisfies v>0.29 s+2.0. The covered electric wire contains electric wire conductor and an insulator covering the conductor. The wiring harness contains the covered electric wire.

Proposed is a novel embedded structure for suppressing a disturbance in the cross sectional shape and a non-uniform deformation of a metal member arising in a precursor when producing an MgB2 multi-core wire material by a surface reduction process. This superconductive multi-core wire material precursor is characterized by having: soft Cu and Fe pure metals disposed in the center; mixed powder elements, each comprising as a sheath material a metal such as Fe or Nb having a barrier effect preventing a reaction between Mg and Cu, the mixed powder elements being disposed in a form that surrounds the periphery of the soft metal serving as the central material; and disposed around these, an outer shell layer produced from a harder metal than the central material and the sheath material.

An electric wire conductor having both flexibility and a space-saving property. Also provided are a covered electric wire and a wiring harness containing the electric wire conductor. An electric wire conductor contains a wire strand containing a plurality of elemental wires twisted together. The electric wire conductor has a flat portion in which a cross section intersecting an axial direction of the wire strand has a flat shape. Assuming a conductor cross-sectional area of the flat portion as s mm.sup.2 and a vacancy ratio defined as a ratio of vacancies not occupied by the elemental wires in a cross section of the flat portion as v %, the conductor cross-sectional area and the vacancy ratio satisfies v>0.29s+2.0. The covered electric wire contains electric wire conductor and an insulator covering the conductor. The wiring harness contains the covered electric wire.