Numerical Study of Coupled Electrical-Thermal-Mechanical-Wear Behavior in Electrical Contacts

Abstract

Electrical contacts involve complicated electrical, thermal, and mechanical phenomena. Fretting wear as a surface damage mechanism significantly weakens the performance of electrical contact components. In this study, a numerical approach is developed to investigate the electrical-thermal-mechanical-wear coupling behavior of electrical contacts. An electrical contact conductance law is used with the current conservation model to evaluate the electrical behavior. A transient heat transfer model, including the Joule heating behavior and a thermal contact conductance law, is employed to calculate the temperature field. Both contact conductance laws are related to the contact pressure distribution obtained by the contact stress analysis. Based on the predicted contact stress and relative slip on contact surfaces, the energy wear model is used to study the evolution of fretting wear depth and contact surface geometry. The material properties in these models are temperature-dependent. The proposed numerical approach is implemented in a finite element modeling of electrical contacts, which is validated by comparing the predicted and experimental results of the wear scar profile. The effects of the fretting wear on the electric potential, current density, contact resistance, temperature, and contact pressure are numerically studied.

A review of advances in tribology in 2020–2021

“…It provided a basis for the development of multi-scale electro-thermo-dynamic analysis methods for contacting solids. Shen and Ke [915] developed a numerical approach to investigate the electro-thermal-mechanical-wear coupling behavior of electric contacts based on finite element modelling as shown in Fig. 74.…”

Silicon Nitride Interface Engineering for Fermi Level Depinning and Realization of Dopant-Free MOSFETs

“…In addition, the dangling bonds at the silicon surface are saturated with the interlayer material [14,15]. In addition, when bringing two materials in contact, physical changes, e.g., mechanical stress or change of micro hardness can appear in each material due to the formation of a contact layer [16,17]. However, mechanical stress of the contact metal in use (Al) is small for our measurement conditions at room temperature.…”

Innovating in-situ characterization: a comprehensive measurement system for measuring the ZT and the contact resistance of vertical thermolegs exploiting the vertical transfer length method

“…The contact resistance is quantified using the transfer length technique (TLM) in an unconventional vertical arrangement along the sides of the thermolegs. The transfer length method (TLM) is the preferred technique for determining contact resistances in semiconductors [4]. However, the unique vertical positioning of the µTEG legs within the PCB deviates from the conventional in-plane orientation of TLM structures, requiring a modification to the standard design (see figure 2).…”

“…The in-plane TLM provides a straightforward approach to determine the sheet resistance of a thin layer of material. By employing a constant current and a digital voltage meter, a four-point measurement configuration can be established [4], where the current is applied and the voltage drop monitored between two adjacent contacts. The overall resistance can be determined and via measurements between each pair of contacts, a TLM graph can be constructed.…”