Impact wear of electric contact

Abstract

The impact effect on electrical contact of dry reed relay has been investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray fluorescence (EDX), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analytical systems. On the basis of experiments, it has been recognized that mechanical impact was a serious problem for this kind of relay contact, SEM, EDX, and AES analysis revealed that considerable damage of the contact zones resulted from the impact action and substantial exchange of material occurred. The contact resistance varied with increase of impact numbers. The results showed that impact action can lead to impact wear, resistance failure, or failures to release (sometimes called sticking) after a relatively small number of operations. A model of impact action was proposed and tested. It was also used to study the processes involved in impacting.<>