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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 5, Issue 6 (Suppl)
J Mat. Sci.
ISSN: 2321-6212
Advanced Materials 2017
October 26-28, 2017
OCTOBER 26-28, 2017 OSAKA, JAPAN
13
TH
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
Material effects on arc characteristics and electrical contact damage
Seulki Hwang
1
, Daesup Hwang
1
, Gihyun Kwon
1
, Chansun Shin
1
and Noh-Hoon Park
2
1
Myongji University, Republic of Korea
2
LS Automotive, Republic of Korea
E
lectrical contacts used in automotive relays are degraded by electrical arcing occurring during turn on and off the switches.
Prominent pips and craters may form on the surfaces of the electrical contacts. The formation of pips and craters is due
to the material transfer between anode and cathode contact and closely related to the arc characteristics occurring between
two contacts. This surface erosion along with the formation of oxide and carbide compounds on the surface can cause switch
failures. In this study, we have investigated the effects of contact materials on the contact resistance and surface erosion. We
found that not only contact materials but also contact arm (plate spring) materials have significant effects on the direction of
material transfer between anode and cathode contact, hence the formation of pips and craters. Repetitive switching has been
performed by applying a constant current of 9 A and 20 A at 12 VDC with DC electronic load. Voltage drops were measured
during the tests and the contact surface morphology and composition of the contacts were analyzed after 30,000 switching
by using digital optical microscopy and Energy-dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM),
respectively. AgCu alloy and Ag metal oxide contacts showed the formation of craters on cathode and pips on anode contact
when BeCu alloy contact arm is used. Interestingly, AgCu alloy contact attached on NiCu alloy contact arm showed the inverse
material direction, i.e., prominent erosion occurred on anode contact and material deposition observed on cathode contact.
This phenomenon will be discussed based on the measurement of the arc characteristics during contact closing and opening.
The change of contact resistance and the formation of surface compounds will be compared among different contact materials.
Biography
Seulki Hwang is presently associated with Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Myongji University, Republic of Korea. She has published numerous
research papers and articles in reputed journals and has various other achievements in the related studies. She has extended her valuable service towards the
scientific community with her extensive research work.
c.shin@mju.ac.krSeulki Hwang et al., J Mat. Sci. 2017, 5:6
DOI: 10.4172/2321-6212-C1-009