Durability studies on vibration-loaded electrical contact systems subjected to tribological stress

作者：Johannes Schautzgy, Yuriy Ivanov, Benjamin Kröger, Jürgen Wilde · 发表于：Materials Testing · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.3139/120.111290 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Electrical Contact Performance and Analysis、Mechanical stress and fatigue analysis、Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions

Abstract Electrical connectors for signal applications in the automotive sector are subjected to stringent requirements. These systems must ensure dependable signal transmission throughout the service life of a vehicle, even under high stress conditions. To this end, redundantly structured contact systems with several lamellas are often used. Stress due to vibrations during vehicle operation can lead to relative displacements between the electrical contact partners, especially in the resonant frequency range of the connector. Fretting corrosion then leads to increased electrical resistance at the connection and to failure of the system when a certain resistance threshold is exceeded. For studying the durability of electrical contacts, a fretting test bench was developed that allows the emulation of stress due to vibrations on a contact system with test frequencies of up to 300 Hz. The Wöhler model was used for describing the durability as a function of the relative motion. The test procedure and evaluation for determining the model parameters were based on the pearl string method. The test unit was qualified as electrically failed if the resistance exceeded the 15 mΩ threshold. The studies showed that the lifetime of the redundantly structured contact system can be described via an analytic approach based on the methodology for determining Wöhler curves. The distribution function was based on a logarithmic normal distribution. With the aid of scanning electron microscopic ana...