Electrical contacts on nickel-plated aluminum: the state of the art

Author

Lefebvre, Jacques ; Galand, Jean ; Marsolais, Richard M.

Author_Institution

Centre de Recherches de Voreppe SA, France

Volume

14

Issue

1

fYear

1991

fDate

3/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

176

Lastpage

180

Abstract

The use of aluminum for some applications has always been limited by its electrical contact properties. It is argued that direct nickel plating confers excellent contact properties which meet the standards of the aeronautical industry. It is shown that direct nickel plating (which is economical) meets all standards, including the highly demanding standards of the airplane industries. In particular, the test conditions were: 500 heat cycles, tang current densities in the vicinity of 150 A/cm² (up to 250 A/cm²), connector lug temperature up to 165°C and cable temperature near 210°C. This technology has been extended recently to a new generation of products and the results of the tests performed to verify this reliability are discussed

Keywords

aerospace industry; aluminium; electric connectors; electrical contacts; environmental testing; materials testing; nickel; reliability; 165 C; Al; Ni-Al; aeronautical industry; aircraft industry; airplane industries; direct Ni plating; electrical contact properties; reliability; state of the art; test conditions; Aerospace industry; Airplanes; Aluminum; Connectors; Contacts; Current density; Industrial economics; Nickel; Temperature; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Components, Hybrids, and Manufacturing Technology, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0148-6411

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/33.76528

Filename

76528