Analysis of surface roughness morphology with TRIZ methodology in automotive electrical contacts: Design against third body fretting-corrosion

Abstract

Electrical connectors for motor vehicles are essential for the safe and efficient operation of a vehicle. However, their durability is limited by fretting induced corrosion. This type of surface damage is observed between two interconnected surfaces exposed to vibration and temperature variations. Such conditions occur during normal vehicle operation and cause two parts of an electrical contact to move at high frequency and with a small amplitude of movement relative to each other. This damages both surfaces, creates wear particles and then oxidizes them in the air. This causes an oxide layer to form at the interface, isolating the two surfaces and increasing the electrical resistance, resulting in contact failure. This study shows how the service life of electrical contacts can be extended by a surface design approach that controls the metal interface and ensures low contact resistance. The approach combines surface morphology with the progressive process of interfacial oxidation. A strong relationship between surface roughness and electrical contact resistance was observed and is elucidated in this study. Theory of Inventive Problems Solving (TRIZ) was used to identify surface texturing as a viable option to increase durability of automotive electrical connectors.

The effect of friction and wear behavior on the signal transmission of brush-ring system during electrical contact sliding

“…The FT was measured online using the dynamic thermocouple method. The contact resistance was measured by using the four-point electrical circuit (also called Kelvin sensor [19]). The optical microstructure (OM) characteristics were examined using a NEOTHOT-32 Zeiss optical microscope.…”

A review of advances in tribology in 2020–2021

“…In Ref. [292], a special shaker-driven fretting tester was built to test the durability of electrical connectors under the combined stress of electric current, temperature, and high frequency lateral vibration. The experiment results showed that the service life of electrical contacts could be extended by a surface design approach that controls the metal interface and ensures low contact resistance.…”

Friction and electrical contact resistance in reciprocating nano-scale wear testing of metallic materials

“…The observed variability in the time-to-failure being most likely related to differences in local surface roughness (at ~100 nm, the R a was > thickness of the electroplated gold layer). Liskiewicz and co-workers have recently shown that surface roughness can exert a strong influence on the endurance of electrical connectors for automotive applications in fretting tests [47].…”