Numerical analysis on mechanical and fatigue behaviors of aviation electrical connector considering structural effect

Abstract

This work is motivated by the fact that the reliability of electrical connectors influenced by their mechanical behavior and fatigue life directly affects the working performance of the whole equipment system. In this paper, theoretical analyses of insertion force, maximum stress, and fatigue life in an aviation electrical connector are presented and the corresponding mathematical models are firstly derived. Then, to numerically investigate its mechanical behavior and fatigue life, a simplified 3D FE model is developed by using ABAQUS and FE‐SAFE software and verified by experiments and theoretical analysis. Finally, the distribution and evolution characteristics of contact forces, stress and fatigue life considering the influences of reed thickness and slot width are quantitatively analyzed in details. The results indicate that the insertion force first increases and then stabilizes at the level of 0.16 N as the pin head is fully inserted into the jack, which shows an opposite to the evolution of extraction force. Moreover, the maximum value of stress and the minimum value of fatigue life are all located at the root of the jack reed. Besides, unlike the small effect of slot width, the Fimax and σmax values obviously increase and the Nf value decreases with the increment of reed thickness.

Numerical Simulation and Modeling of Mechano–Electro–Thermal Behavior of Electrical Contact Using COMSOL Multiphysics

“…(c) ABAQUS and FE-SAFE software are both used [56] to numerically investigate and assess in detail the behavior of aviation electrical contacts. Authors of [57] use an ABAQUS developed thermalelectric coupled simulation to study the contact pair insertion force and obtain the contact resistance.…”

Numerical Simulation and Modeling of Mechano–Electro–Thermal Behavior of Electrical Contact Using COMSOL Multiphysics

“…(c) The ABAQUS and FE-SAFE software types are both used [57] to numerically investigate and assess in detail the behavior of aviation electrical contacts. The authors of [58] used an ABAQUS-developed thermal-electric coupled simulation to study the contact pair insertion force and obtain the contact resistance.…”