《Arc erosion of AgSnO2 electrical contacts at different stages of a break operation》.pdfVIP

RARE METALS Vol. 29, No. 3, Jun 2010, p. 248 DOI: 10.1007/s12598-010-0043-1 Arc erosion of AgSnO electrical contacts at different stages of a break 2 operation J. Swingler and A. Sumption School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom Received 31 July 2009; received in revised form 9 October 2009; accepted 10 October 2009 © The Nonferrous Metals Society of China and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 Abstract Arc erosion studies are conducted on AgSnO contact materials at different stages in the break operation. A resistive load arrangement is 2 used with up to 42 V DC at 24 A and a constant contact opening velocity. The arc current is terminated at different stages as the arc is drawn between the contacts enabling a study of the arcing phenomena up to that point. Surface profiling of the contacts is conducted to determine the extent of erosion at the different stages as the arc is drawn. Spectral analysis is also conducted on the arc and then related to the extent of erosion. The results show that particular features occur at different stages as the arc is drawn. As the arc is initially established, it goes through an “Arc Generation” regime where the arc roots are small and immobile on both the anode and the cathode. Material transfer occurs mainly from anode to cathode. The spectral analysis indicates that Sn and O species dominate the arc followed by the Ag species. As the arc is drawn further and enters the “Arc Degeneration” regime, the anode undergoes significantly larger erosion than the cathode. Also, both contacts indicate that multiple arc roots have formed, which are highly mobile in the later stages of the discharge. The spectral analysis indi- cates that Ag and N species are in high concentrations compared to other species. The mechanisms of erosion and deposition are discussed in relation