Effect of displacement and humidity on contact resistance of copper electrical contacts.pdfVIP

Tribology International 95 (2016) 256–261 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Tribology International journal homepage: /locate/triboint Effect of displacement and humidity on contact resistance of copper electrical contacts I.H. Sung, J.W. Kim, H.J. Noh, H. Jang n Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, South Korea article info Article history: Received 23 July 2015 Received in revised form 14 October 2015 Accepted 22 November 2015 Available online 28 November 2015 Keywords: Fretting Contact area Humidity Contact resistance abstract The effect of displacement and humidity on fretting-induced instability of electrical contact resistance (Rc) was studied. A fretting tester was used to examine Rc in partial and gross slip modes. Under the partial slip regime the contact failure was susceptible to the displacement and moisture effectively increased contact stability, which was pronounced at smaller displacements. In the gross slip mode, however, humidity effect was relatively small. The early contact failure at low humidity was attributed to the wear debris agglomeration within the sliding interface, suggesting a high propensity of electrical contact failure at dry conditions. 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The metallic contacts in relays, switches, and power connectors play a crucial role in transmitting power and signals for electrical devices. The robust design of electrical junctions with proper material selection, thus, has attracted much attention [1–3]. In particular, the durability of the electrical connectors in vehicles has become a greater concern during the last two decades since modern vehicles have many electrical connectors because the number of electronic devices has increased signi?cantly for entertainment, comfort, and safety [4]. When electrical connectors present in the vehicle increase, the reliability of the electrical devices decreases. This is attributed to the unavoidable