Fretting Behavior of Au Plated Copper Contacts Induced by High Frequency Vibration

Fretting, which induced by high frequency vibration, remains a major cause of connector failure and can impair reliability in aerospace electrical and electronic systems. The test system was developed for high frequency fretting conditions (Maximum vibration frequency 2000Hz) by using electro dynamic shaker in this paper. The fretting behavior of gold plated copper contacts was studied by controlling the fretting frequency and the fretting amplitude. Contact resistance, friction force, and dynamic fretting displacement were recorded explicitly. Surface characteristics of fretted area are also analyzed by SEM/EDX. It is clearly revealed that the contact micro morphology feature, fretting amplitude and frequency are important factors for electrical contact degradation and the failure mechanisms of contacts.

[1]  E. Rabinowicz,et al.  Fretting failure of electroplated gold contacts , 1991 .

[2]  Siegfried Fouvry,et al.  The fretting sliding transition as a criterion for electrical contact performance , 2001 .

[3]  E. Carvou,et al.  Fretting corrosion in power contacts: Electrical and thermal analysis , 2014, 2014 IEEE 60th Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Holm).

[4]  H. Blanks.  Detection and Accelerated Testing of Vibration-Induced Connector Wear , 1984 .

[5]  Siegfried Fouvry,et al.  A fast methodology to quantify electrical-contact behaviour under fretting loading conditions , 2009 .

[6]  M. Antler,et al.  Fretting corrosion of gold-plated connector contacts☆ , 1981 .

[7]  Paul G. Slade,et al.  Electrical contacts : principles and applications , 1999 .

[8]  K. Lee,et al.  The influence of current load on fretting of electrical contacts , 2009 .

[9]  Young Woo Park,et al.  Effect of fretting amplitude and frequency on the fretting corrosion behaviour of tin plated contacts , 2006 .

[10]  Young Woo Park,et al.  Effect of intermittent fretting on corrosion behavior in electrical contact , 2010 .

[11]  Milenko Braunovic,et al.  Fretting in Electrical/Electronic Connections: A Review , 2009, IEICE Trans. Electron..

[12]  S. Fouvry,et al.  Introduction of an exponential formulation to quantify the electrical endurance of micro-contacts enduring fretting wear: Application to Sn, Ag and Au coatings , 2011 .

[13]  E. Carvou,et al.  Statistical Study of Voltage Fluctuations in Power Connectors During Fretting Vibration , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Components and Packaging Technologies.

[14]  Yasuhiro Hattori,et al.  Observations of Structural Transition of Tin Plated Fretting Contacts Using FIB-SEM , 2011, IEICE Trans. Electron..

[15]  S. Correia,et al.  Fretting Behavior of Nickel Coatings for Electrical Contact Applications , 2011, 2011 IEEE 57th Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Holm).