Contact contamination and arc interactions

Author

Witter, G.J.

Author_Institution

Chugai USA Inc., Waukegan, IL, USA

fYear

2005

fDate

26-28 Sept. 2005

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

9

Abstract

Contact contamination is a major problem for all types of contacts but is more complex for arcing contacts as a result of arc interactions with the contact surface and contaminants. The paper describes arc interactions with mineral particulate and resultant resistances. The complexities of silicone film contamination, migration, and silicon oxide build up are described. The paper also describes the effect of difference automotive loads on silicone reactions. Special arc reactions that occur as a result of silver refractory metal oxidation potential are discussed. For silver contacts, the reasons for high and unstable resistances for DC inductive load applications are discussed. The paper is mainly a review with some added new material.

Keywords

arcs (electric); contact resistance; contamination; electrical contacts; interface phenomena; refractories; silicon; silver; Ag; Si; arc interactions; arcing contacts; arcing plasma; contact contaminants; contact contamination; contact resistance; contact surface; difference automotive loads; mineral particulates; silicone film contamination; silicone reactions; silver refractory metal oxidation potential; Automotive engineering; Contacts; Minerals; Optical films; Rough surfaces; Semiconductor films; Silicon; Silver; Surface contamination; Surface roughness;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Contacts, 2005. Proceedings of the Fifty-First IEEE Holm Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-9113-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/HOLM.2005.1518216

Filename

1518216