Abstract: In this paper, the law of smoke release of cables under overload condition that frequently occurred in civil buildings was studied. The influence of overload current, conductor material, nominal sectional area, and the hardness of the cable on smoke release was discussed. It was found that the amount of smoke increaed with the increase of overload current. More smoke generated from coppercorewires than aluminum counterpart with the same diameter. The cables with smaller diameter and soft core were easier to release smoke than those with larger diameter and hard core.

Key words: cable, overload, smoke release, smoke density