The Effect of Lithium Additions and Contact Density for Silver-Cadmium Oxide Contacts for Make and Break Arcs

Several previous studies have shown the effect that lithium additions have on arc erosion characteristics of silver-cadmium oxide alloys. The effect of lithium on erosion resistance is not always evident, and the mechanism for the effect of lithium on erosion has not been clearly understood. This paper investigates the effect of material density and lithium content separately for both make and break arcs. A separate effect on erosion is seen for density and lithium Content. Erosion resistance improves as density increases for make and break arcs. For make arcs, lithium additions improve erosion resistance beyond the density effect. Larger additions of lithium are shown to increase the tendency for cracking during arcing.