Comparative corrosion and current burst testing of copper and aluminum electrical power connectors

Author

Frank, Ron ; Morton, Chris

Author_Institution

Canadian Copper & Brass Assoc., Don Mills, Ont., Canada

Volume

1

fYear

2005

fDate

2-6 Oct. 2005

Firstpage

442

Abstract

Crimped and mechanically bolted aluminum and copper connectors are commonly used for terminating industrial electrical power cables with ratings up to 600 V. Aluminum connectors are available for use with aluminum or copper conductor, and copper connectors are available for use with copper conductor only. The performance of copper and aluminum connectors was compared by conducting accelerated aging under corrosive environmental conditions. The testing consisted of 2000 hours of cyclic salt fog environmental exposure, in conjunction with periodic electrical current burst testing. The connectors were evaluated by comparing the change in resistance of the test samples as the test progressed.

Keywords

ageing; aluminium; conductors (electric); contact resistance; copper; corrosion testing; electric connectors; environmental testing; fog; life testing; power cable testing; contact resistance; copper conductor; corrosion testing; electrical current burst testing; industrial electrical power cable; mechanically bolted aluminum connector; mechanically bolted copper connector; salt fog environmental exposure; Accelerated aging; Aluminum; Conductors; Connectors; Copper; Corrosion; Electric resistance; Metals industry; Power cables; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Industry Applications Conference, 2005. Fourtieth IAS Annual Meeting. Conference Record of the 2005

ISSN

0197-2618

Print_ISBN

0-7803-9208-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IAS.2005.1518345

Filename

1518345