Influence of mechanical design parameters on electrical contact performance

Author

Olsson, K.-E. ; Öberg, A.

Author_Institution

ABB Power Syst. AB, Ludvika, Sweden

fYear

1989

fDate

18-20 Sep 1989

Firstpage

133

Lastpage

140

Abstract

Long-time service data as well as data from current cycle testing on electrical contact resistance have been analyzed with respect to mechanical design parameters. The importance of the pressure distribution over the contact surface was studied for a constant surface force. The mechanical stresses acting over the contact surface have been calculated by the finite-element method for the type of contact investigated. It is found that a high specific contact pressure promotes lower contact resistance and favors their long-time stability. The pressure distribution on the contact surface has a significant influence on the aging properties of the connectors studied. It was confirmed that the aging behavior is strongly affected by the preparation methods. The aging mechanisms detected on the contact surfaces studied are fretting and formation of intermetallic phases

Keywords

ageing; contact resistance; design engineering; electrical contacts; environmental testing; failure analysis; finite element analysis; reliability; wear; aging behavior; aging mechanisms; aging properties; constant surface force; contact pressure; contact surfaces; current cycle testing; electrical contact performance; electrical contact resistance; finite-element method; formation of intermetallic phases; fretting; long term stability; long time service data; long-time stability; mechanical design parameters; mechanical stresses; preparation methods; pressure distribution; Aging; Connectors; Contact resistance; Electric resistance; Finite element methods; Phase detection; Stability; Stress; Surface resistance; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Contacts, 1989., Proceedings of the Thirty Fifth Meeting of the IEEE Holm Conference on

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/HOLM.1989.77932

Filename

77932