Simulation and Experimental Study of Ag/Ni Contact Materials

Environmentally friendly and excellent performance of low-voltage electrical contact materials Ag/Ni in recent years for the extensive research and development of cadmium-free silver-based contact materials. However, in the process of using Ag/Ni contact materials have the disadvantage of welding resistance. Doping to improve the performance of Ag/Ni has long been of great interest and has been used in experimental studies, resulting in a waste of many aspects and a lack of theoretical basis. In order to address the above problems, this paper proposes a performance simulation method for W-doped Ag/Ni interface model based on the first principle of density functional theory. The interface models of Ag/Ni(15), Ag/Ni(17) and W-doped Ag/Ni(15), W-doped Ag/Ni(17) are constructed and optimized, and the work of interfacial separation, interfacial energy, density of states, and Mulliken population are obtained and analyzed by energy simulation, and the results show that the interfacial bonding strength and stability of W-doped Ag/Ni materials are enhanced. After that, the W-doped Ag/Ni contact materials were prepared by mechanical alloy process and powder metallurgy, and the consistency between the simulated interface model and the experimentally prepared contact materials was verified by the qualitative analysis of the phase structure of X-ray diffraction experiments. The wettability experimental results are in agreement with the simulation. Therefore, the calculation of interfacial properties by a first-principles approach based on density functional theory can effectively predict the welding resistance of Ag/Ni contact materials. This paper provides a theoretical basis for the development of Ag/Ni contact material properties with excellent performance, which is of great scientific and economic significance for the development of contact materials with excellent performance and green environmental protection. © 2025 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC.