{"title":"A new design of multi-contact reed relay for improving switching load capacity","authors":"Liang-jun Xu, Ji-gao Zhang, B. Miedzinski","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722448","url":null,"abstract":"Reeds and reed devices are being employed to serve as measuring and switching elements in automated electrical power systems where the load currents encountered are much greater than in electronic system applications. Much work has been performed to look for an appropriate reed structure to improve switching capacity. In this paper, modified power reed structures with double and treble contact gaps are presented. It has been proven by theoretical analysis and experiments that their load capacities are significantly increased. The most important problem that must be considered is the dynamic behavior of the modified structures. The transient state under closure and opening operation of the reed structure were analyzed by the finite element method. Based on the computations, the conclusions on dynamic behavior of the reed's operation and proper selection of the reed's parameters were performed using these computations.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129528149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Magnetic flux density as a probe of the state of electrical contacts","authors":"A. Nordstrom, R. Gustafsson","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722427","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722427","url":null,"abstract":"A new remote measuring technique for electrical contacts has been developed and tested in laboratory experiments. By measuring variations in the magnetic flux density outside an electrical contact, the current distribution in the contact region can be probed. At the contact interface the current is constricted to a limited number of contact spots, a-spots. If the condition of an electrical contact is good, a large number of a-spots are evenly distributed over the contact interface. As the contact degrades the number of contact spots decreases and statistically the distribution of a-spots over the contact interface will be more inhomogeneous. The laboratory tests clearly show how an inhomogeneous current distribution develops in the vicinity of a contact interface where the contact spots are unevenly distributed. The inhomogeneities have been resolved up to a distance of 35 mm away from the contact interface.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129912454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
W. E. Pendleton, A. Tackett, L. Korzeniowski, G. Cvijanovich, R.T. Williams, W. C. Jones
{"title":"STM study of topographical changes on gold contact surfaces caused by loading","authors":"W. E. Pendleton, A. Tackett, L. Korzeniowski, G. Cvijanovich, R.T. Williams, W. C. Jones","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722435","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722435","url":null,"abstract":"The topographical changes to the asperities of a flat cobalt-hardened gold electroplated surface that occur as a result of being contacted with a ruby sphere are studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy and software developed to allow computer image registration and subtraction. A range of normal, force loads and sphere sizes are utilized. Quantitative information is obtained for each plastically deformed asperity in the contact region concerning the volume of material displaced during the contact process and the area of the contact spot resulting from the flattened asperity. Three-dimensional images are presented that show the location and size of the portions the asperities that were displaced in the contact process. Two-dimensional maps are generated to show the location and size of the asperity contacting spots in the contact region, Data from contact conditions of 10 to 100 grams normal force and from 1/16 inch to 1/4 inch contacting sphere diameter are used to show trends concerning the number of deformed asperities, total contacting area, total deformed volume, maximum area of the largest deformed asperity, force/total contacting area, and total deformed volume/total contacting area as a function of normal force and sphere diameter.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123440635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Erosion and resistance characteristics of AgW and AgC contacts at high current arcing in air","authors":"J. Shea","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722457","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722457","url":null,"abstract":"Even though there are numerous factors that contribute to the erosion and resistance of arcing contacts, a reliable and repeatable test has been developed for comparing the erosion and resistance characteristics of arcing contact materials over a wide current range (up to 22 kA,). Arc root current density, along with contact dimensions were parameters found to greatly affect erosion rate and contact resistance. Contact surface temperature was determined by arc root current density, which was a function of arc current. The closer the contact density was to the theoretical maximum density the lower the erosion rate of AgW. This was especially noticeable for currents above 10 kA.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130206188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Optimization of silver tin oxide chemistry to enhance electrical performance in a.c. application","authors":"H.A. Francisco, M. Myers","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722445","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722445","url":null,"abstract":"The addition of copper oxide (0.37-0.53%) to silver tin oxide based material substantially improved the electrical performance in a.c. application. The erosion behavior of the material was directly related to the level of copper oxide in the silver tin oxide based materials. The investigation was undertaken to correlate the changes in contact performance as the copper oxide additive varied. Performance changes and physical characteristics of each material, such as formability (tensile properties), contact resistance and contact material erosion (arc erosion) were evaluated. The resistance to arc erosion of silver tin oxide based material containing 0.37-0.53% copper oxide by weight was superior in comparison to other silver tin oxide based materials containing 0.025%, 0.065% and 0.96% of copper oxide. In addition changes in electrical resistance were not dependent on the chemistry of each material. The results suggested copper oxide addition of 0.37-0.53% by weight was the chief reason silver tin oxide based materials out-performed other doped silver tin oxide based material under the same test conditions.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121600367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influence of AC interruption points on AC arc erosion of silver based contact materials","authors":"Hassan NOURI, T. Davies, J. Head","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722447","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722447","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents experimental results obtained from a study into the reduction of contact erosion on break, using controlled AC point interruption principles. Five thousand break tests are carried out for a utilisation category of AC-1, at a current of 6 A rms, a gap-length of 2 mm on AgCdO (90%, 10%), AgCu3 (97%,3%) and Ag (fine, 99.9%) contacts, each with a diameter of 5 mm. The results show that by interrupting the circuit at selected points on the AC waveform, the rate of erosion varies significantly for different contact materials and the fine silver in general loses material. The minimum mass change for AgCdO is at interruption point /spl alpha/=135/spl deg/ and for AgCu3 surprisingly is at /spl alpha/=45/spl deg/. In the random break operation both AgCdO and fine Ag lose materials from both electrodes, but AgCu has an equal amount of material transfer. The paper also discusses the practical benefits of a controlled interruption technique within three-phase switching devices by incorporating a logic sequencer.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128050659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Electrode processes and arc form in miniature circuit breakers","authors":"J. McBride, P. Jeffery, P. Weaver","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722433","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722433","url":null,"abstract":"The electric arc in current limiting circuit breakers is often depicted as a well defined region of current flow. During a short circuit fault the current through the arc in a current limiting miniature circuit breaker can range from 100 to 10000 Amps. This range of current, along with varying electrode conditions, will lead to variation in both the form of the arc and the processes occurring at the electrodes. These electrode processes, in particular the emission mechanism at the cathode root, dominate the mobility characteristics of the arc. Previously proposed electrode processes are reviewed and the interaction of the mechanisms discussed. Using data recorded on a high speed Arc Imaging System observations about the arc behaviour at different intervals of the arc event are related to possible electrode processes. The variation of arc form in miniature circuit breakers is also discussed.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125448341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Electric contact behavior of Cu-Sn intermetallic compound formed in tin platings","authors":"C.B. Shao, J.G. Zhang","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722424","url":null,"abstract":"An intermetallic compound (IMC) Cu/sub 6/Sn/sub 5/ is formed in tin platings on phosphorous bronze substrates when the coupons are subjected to thermal shocks. The coupons were cross-sectioned to show the growth of Cu-Sn IMC which was identified by X-ray diffraction method. Sliding and fretting electric contact behavior were studied on such surfaces. Previous studies in other laboratories found that the contact resistance in such experiments was quite high. In the present experiments, however, a specially made lubricant was used which dramatically lowered the contact resistance. It was found that the oxide and other contaminant particles normally located in the contact area of the probe were removed by the lubricant. But in agreement with earlier studies, obvious cracks could easily be seen on the surface of the substrate after sliding or fretting experiments. Thus the main beneficial effect of the lubricant in these kinds of experiments was to reduce the contact resistance.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131149018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Performance of the gold-tin connector interface in a flight environment","authors":"W. Abbott","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722439","url":null,"abstract":"Field and laboratory studies were conducted over a 2-year period to confirm a suspected failure mechanism in a flight critical electrical connector. The connector involved the combination of gold-plated sockets mated to solder-plated pins in a 6 pin, circular military connector. The suspected failure mechanism was fretting corrosion. A second objective was to evaluate the effects of a MIL-L-87177A lubricant on this combination. This lubricant was being considered as a potential field \"fix\" on systems already deployed (and potentially in a degraded state) in the field. Flight tests confirmed the rapid degradation of an unlubricated population of samples. This occurred in all environments studied including two that were considered noncorrosive. The mechanism was confirmed to be fretting corrosion. Parallel flight tests on lubricated hardware demonstrated the ability of a lubricant to delay the onset of fretting corrosion for at least 1 but less than 2 years. Laboratory tests confirmed that vibration was the major stress, which was responsible for the degradation of this system. Lubrication effectiveness was confirmed to delay but not totally prevent fretting corrosion. Finally, it was demonstrated that lubrication was effective in restoring a degraded system.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"172 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124186254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
W. E. Pendleton, A. Tackett, L. Korzeniowski, G. Cvijanovich, R.T. Williams, W. C. Jones
{"title":"Computer simulation of topographical changes on gold contact surfaces caused by loading","authors":"W. E. Pendleton, A. Tackett, L. Korzeniowski, G. Cvijanovich, R.T. Williams, W. C. Jones","doi":"10.1109/HOLM.1998.722436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/HOLM.1998.722436","url":null,"abstract":"The topographical changes in the asperities of a flat cobalt-hardened gold electroplated surface that occur as a result of being contacted by a sphere are simulated by computer superposition of a mathematically generated spherical surface and a Scanning Tunneling Microscope topograph of an actual flat sample surface. Both ideally smooth and rough spherical surfaces are considered. Two-dimensional maps of the location and size of contact areas and quantitative information on contact areas resulting from asperities that would have been deformed in actual contact events are presented. In addition, 3-dimensional plots and quantitative values of the location and volume of asperity material that would have been deformed in actual contact events are presented. Good agreement is found when the simulation results are compared with experimentally obtained contact results for the same sample surface region at the same indention depth. The simulation technique should prove useful in predicting changes in contact performance associated with changes in contact surface topography or contactor geometry. Computer simulation is much faster and easier than obtaining similar information by experimental techniques which are time consuming and require sophisticated sample contact and positioning hardware.","PeriodicalId":371014,"journal":{"name":"Electrical Contacts - 1998. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Cat. No.98CB36238)","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127746377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}