Metallurgic and contact resistance studies of sleeve connectors in aluminium cable splices

Two types of sleeve connector (crimp and solder) used in aluminum cable splices were examined after being tested in a series of accelerated aging experiments. Diagnostic techniques, such as optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis, were applied to reveal the microstructure of the contact. The observation correlates well with the measurements of the contact resistance. Corrective measures are suggested to improve the performance of the cable splices.