Computational Modeling and Analysis of a Contact Pair for the Prediction of Fretting Dependent Electrical Contact Resistance

A two-dimensional computational model of fretting corrosion was proposed by the authors. The two-dimensional simulation result was reported in the previous paper. Presently, the model is extended to three-dimensional space. This paper focuses on the electrical contact resistance profile, which is caused by particle generation, oxidation, and transportation at the interface of connector terminals. The material used in the study is tin-plated copper alloy. The scope of the simulation is limited between the initial state and the first peak of resistance profile curve. The model for particle generation, oxidation, and transportation is based on cellular automata. On the other hand, the resistance profile is calculated with the model based on equivalent resistor network. In this case, the calculation of overall resistance value is equivalent to the solution of simultaneous equations. Typically, the authors used the conjugate gradient method for solving the equations. The simulated resistance profiles were compared with experimental results. The peak heights of the resistance profile agree with the experimental results. Nevertheless, further investigation is still required on the compatibility with the physical theory. The results indicate that this model can describe the resistance altering tendency and the peak heights caused by fretting corrosion.