Current density and heat generation rate in the neighborhood of a single-line contact with various space angles

Using the fact that the electric potential at any point and the current flowing through a segment in a conducting body are not changed by geometrical transformations, the distribution of heat generation rate in a neighborhood about a single-line contact was calculated for various space angles by applying a conformal mapping. It is shown that the space angle of a single-line contact has a large influence on the distribution of the Joule heating rate in the conducting body and hence must be considered for accurate prediction of the thermal response of contact devices, especially when the space angle is approaching pi radians. The heat generation rate under a constant electrical resistivity is extremely high in the region near the contact line, especially at positions near the edge of the line contact, which will cause thermal damage in that area.<>