High-Intensity Contact Opening Under 36-V DC Voltage Application for Mild Hybrid Vehicles

This paper concerns the study of contact opening under dc voltage in the case of high-intensity current (a few hundred amperes). The application fields are mainly automotive and aeronautical systems. An experimental device has been designed in order to study the opening of contacts under various conditions. The influence of several parameters on contact opening is studied. These are the following: the opening velocity, the current intensity through the closed contact, the nature of the contact materials (Ag, Ag-12wt%SnO₂), the value of the inductance in the electrical circuit. The measured parameters characterizing the opening phase are as follows: the arc duration, the value of the electrode gap when the arc extinguishes, the arc energy, the maximal value of the contact voltage during the opening phase, and the electrode erosion. The study of the erosion is achieved with the help of a 3-D profllometer enabling the measurement of mass transfer and, for instance, of the amount of molten or evaporated metal.