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The cathode and the anode fall of the DC arcs are measured by fast oscilloscope for Ag-CdO contacts over a range of gap-lengths from 0.05 mm to 1 mm, and currents of 4-10 Amps at atmospheric pressure, with a known electrode closing speed, using the Moving Electrode Method. It was observed that the anode fall can occur in a few places within the arc voltage waveform, and is dependent of the electrodes' surface condition. Both cathode and anode falls increase with gap-length and decrease with current. It was found that when arc length is shorter than electrode separation, discontinuity within the arc voltage waveform during closure is caused, in many cases, by vapourisation of the first point of contact or by a high electric field set up between the two electrodes. These discontinuities are named as Voltage Step Phenomena. These voltage steps are related to the cathode and anode fall voltages, and their regular occurrences are a function of surface roughness. The fluctuations in the arc voltage waveform are thought to originate mainly from the cathode. A technique has been developed to measure the temperature of the electrodes accurately by using a T-type thermocouple, 0.075 mm diameter, in conjunction with a DC amplifier with a gain of 247. The thermocouple is placed as close as possible under the electrode surface (200 µm). This enables the temperature of the contact to be measured, after breaking contact, for an arc-duration even as short as 1ms. The time-constant of the probe (contact containing the thermocouple) is measured to be approximately 18ms. With this technique the temperature of the electrodes are measured for currents and gap-lengths ranging 4-10 Amps and 0.05-1 mm respectively. The effect of contacts being new and change of polarity have been investigated. From these results it is concluded that the co-existence of layers of foreign material on one, or both, surfaces causes the temperature of the electrodes to be high for the first 50-100 operations, before reaching to steady-state conditions. Change of polarity suggests that the moving electrode, either anode or cathode, due to the effect of air movement over its surface, is cooled relative to when fixed. The power transfer to the electrodes is calculated for various currents and gap-length using thermal analogue formulae derived from the transient response of an RC circuit to a d.c. pulse. The results show that below 0.2 mm the sum of the anode and cathode power is approximately equal to the arc power, and hence losses are negligible. At around 0.125 mm, for currents of about 6A and 12A, they both receive an equal amount of power from the arc. This has been related to the thermal energy of the electrons being negligible, at such separation, at the anode end of the plasma column. The power balance equations are solved to calculate the positive ion current to the cathode, and the thermal energy of the electrons in the plasma column, under various test conditions. In the investigation of erosion, the S.E.M. studies show that most of the power dissipated on the surface of the electrodes is used in melting and evaporation. The x-ray analysis shows that the melted metal is composed mostly of Silver. To operate the test rig and collect the generated data automatically, a computerised test system, with a mini data acquisition system, has been designed and constructed here.

No description available.

Due to increasing weight of electrical component and wiring harnesses in a vehicle contrary to the demand of light constructed vehicles as well as the constantly increasing and fluctuating price of copper compared to aluminium’s stable and far lower price, the use of aluminium conductors as an alternative have been promoted.  This thesis work lay theoretical research of the available methods used for electrical connection of aluminium conductors in order to increase the knowledge about the available termination techniques.  Due to aluminium’s characteristics such as lower conductivity and strength, tendency to form oxides and relax over time, differences in thermal expansion coefficient and high potential for galvanic corrosion, there is a risk of deterioration and degradation of the connection if the termination of aluminium conductors is not done correctly without being aware of the challenges when it comes to aluminium connection.  The founded solutions are different welding and soldering techniques such as friction welding, ultrasonic welding, resistance welding, plasma soldering and many other modifications of conventional crimp.  A robust termination system that faces all those challenges and ensure a reliable connection during the entire life length of the vehicle and in order to inhibit corrosion different type of sealing of the contact interface will be required.  In order to evaluate the performance of the founded connection method, testing with evaluation of, tensile strength of conductor to contact attachment, tightness demand, corrosion resistance, vibration and heat evolution at the contact attachment have to be conducted.

Low alloy steel electrodes have been electroslag remelted using alternating and direct current power sources. Changes in electrical contact between the furnace mould wall and mould base provided an improved understanding of the thermal ,and chemical processes characteristic of the remelting technique. 1m ion regeneration process has been postulated to account for current flow within the slag phase. Observed changes in furnace heating effects, electrode droplet sizes and in slag and metal compositions have be,en related to overtensions impressed on the slag/electrode and slag/ingot boundaries. The desulfurization reaction has been studied in detail. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

L’étude du contact électrique quasi statique à plusieurs échelles permet de comprendre celui des micro-relais MEMS. Au cours de ce travail, une modélisation fine du contact est développée pour valider des lois de comportement établies à partir des mesures obtenues grâce à la mise au point de deux dispositifs expérimentaux originaux : la balance de précision, qui permet de réaliser un contact à l’échelle macroscopique entre barreaux croisés recouverts des films minces des matériaux à tester, et un nanoindenteur instrumenté pour la mesure électrique reproduisant un micro-contact identique à celui des micro-relais. Ils permettent tous deux de mener une étude comparative de différents échantillons en fonction de la force (de la dizaine de µN à quelques N), du courant (du µA à l’A), de l’état de surface (rugosité) ou encore du temps ; le contact étant caractérisé par sa résistance électrique. Ce travail concerne principalement le contact réalisé entre films minces en Au, matériau de contact de référence pour les applications micro-relais MEMS. L’étude des contacts de grande dimension a néanmoins été élargie à Ru, Rh, Pt et à l’alliage Au-Ni.Les résultats obtenus à l’aide de la balance de précision ont démontré la nécessité de prendre en compte l’influence de la configuration en film mince des matériaux de contact, tant du point de vue mécanique (rugosité) qu’électrique (répartition des lignes de courant). Leur comparaison à une modélisation statistique du contact rugueux donne des résultats satisfaisants. Cette approche a par ailleurs nécessité le développement d’un algorithme d’analyse d’image des relevés topographiques réalisés au microscope à force atomique, permettant ainsi de quantifier précisément les positions, taille et rayon de courbure de chaque aspérité de la surface.Les mesures effectuées à l’aide du nanoindenteur ont mis en évidence l’effet de la durée de fermeture des microcontacts sur la valeur de la résistance électrique. Le fluage des aspérités serait en partie responsable de la décroissance temporelle observée, aboutissant à des valeurs de résistance limite comparables à celles calculées à l’aide d'une modélisation numérique du contact entre des aspérités discrétisées et une sphère lisse. / The multi scale study of quasi static electrical contact is aimed at understanding those in MEMS microswitches. In this work, an accurate modeling of contact is developed to validate constitutive relations based on measurements obtained through the development of two original experimental set ups: a precision balance, which enables to perform a macroscopic contact between crossed roads coated with thin films of the materials to be tested, and a nanoindenter instrumented for electrical measurements reproducing microswitches contacts. They both allow a comparative study of different samples depending on the force (from μN to N), current (µA to A), surface condition (roughness) or time, while the contact is characterized through its electrical resistance. The measurements are obtained in the first place for gold, the reference contact material for MEMS microswitches applications. The study of large contacts was nevertheless extended to Ru, Rh, Pt and Au-Ni alloy.The results obtained using the precision balance showed the need to take into account the influence of the thin film configuration of contact materials, both in terms of mechanical (roughness) and electrical (distribution of current lines). Their comparison to a statistical model of rough contact gives satisfactory results. This approach also required the development of an image analysis algorithm of topographic maps obtained through atomic force microscopy. It allows quantifying precisely the position, height and radius of curvature of each surface asperity.Measurements made using the nanoindenter showed the effect of the time of closure of the micro contact on electrical resistance values. The creep of asperities may be partly responsible for the observed time decay, leading to limit resistance values comparable to those calculated using a numerical modeling of the contact between discretized asperities and a smooth sphere.

Electrical contact resistance (ECR) measurements are needed for judging the performance of electrical appliances. Understanding the behaviour of ECR at low temperature gives a unique opportunity for understanding the contact mechanism itself and controlling the contact resistance for its applications in various areas at these temperatures. In many high-end applications, sophisticated electronic devices are being operated below ambient temperature to improve their performance. The availability of cryogens, improvement in Thermo-Electrical (TE) based Peltier coolers, accelerated the development of these devices. In designing such systems, an accurate measurement of electrical contact resistance below room temperature is important. A detailed experimental investigation has been conducted on electrical contact resistance across bare and coated metal contacts at low temperatures. As a part of the experimental investigation, a test facility capable of varying the contact force, surrounding pressure and temperature, is developed. The design, construction, testing and use of this facility are described. Electrical contact resistance at different contact pressures across copper, OFHC copper and brass with and without gold coatings is measured using 4-wire technique with high accuracy. The test specimen preparation, instrumentation and data acquisition are explained in detail. The setup is standardized by comparing the experimental results obtained across copper-copper contacts in vacuum with the theoretical model. The electrical contact resistance is measured as a function of contact force at different temperatures. The effect of loading and unloading, and the existence of hysteresis are experimentally studied. The electrical properties of conductors improve at low temperature but this is not true for contact resistance. At low temperature the contact resistance increases and it depends on applied contact force, hardness and roughness of the contacting surfaces. Gold-coated contacts exhibited an increase in contact resistance at low temperatures.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / 100 m/s). Low voltage electrical contact was not maintained for some experimental shots and non-parallel rails were the suspected cause. In this thesis, we used a non-contact capacitive sensor to determine rail spacing to within 2/kAcm10mael, so that the rails will be parallel within small tolerances. Several rails were used in these experiments: 75-25 copper-tungsten, chromium-plated 75-25 Cu-W, and chromium-plated pure copper rails. Improving the control of rail spacing and parallelity did not ensure low-voltage electrical contact for our configurations. The largest damage was observed for chromium-plated copper rails and the least damage occurred for chromium-plated 75-25 Cu-W rails. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

The effects of AC and DC on cooling rate, solute distribution and nugget shape after solidification, which are responsible for microstructure of the fusion zone, during resistance spot welding are realistically and extensively investigated. The finite difference method is used to predict transport variables in workpieces and electrodes during heating, melting, cooling and freezing periods. The model accounts for electromagnetic force, heat generations at the electrode-workpiece interface and faying surface between workpieces, and dynamic electrical resistance including bulk resistance and contact resistances at the faying surface and electrode-wokpiece interfaces, which are function of hardness, temperature, electrode force, and surface condition. The computed results show that in contrast to DC, using AC readily produces the nugget in an ellipse shape. Deficit and excess of solute content occur in a thin layer around the boundary and interior of the nugget, respectively. The effects of dynamic electrical resistance subject to AC (Alternative current) on transport variables, cooling rate, solute distribution and nugget shape after solidification during resistance spot welding are realistically and extensively investigated. The model accounts for electromagnetic force, heat generation and contact resistances at the faying surface and electrode-workpiece interfaces and bulk resistance in workpieces. Contact resistance are comprised of constriction and film resistances, which are functions of hardness, temperature, electrode force and surface condition. The computed results show that the weld nugget readily occurs by increasing constriction resistance and Curie temperature. High Curie temperature enhances convection and solute mixing, and readily melts through the workpiece surface near the electrode edge. Aside from finding the significant effect of Curie temperature on resistance spot welding, this study indicates that any mean (For example, adjusting solute content) to reduce Curie temperature can be a new way to control weld quality.

Abstract Dynamic electrical resistance during resistance spot welding has been quantitatively modeled and analyzed in this work. A determination of dynamic resistance is necessary for predicting the transport processes and monitoring the weld quality during resistance spot welding. In this study, dynamic resistance is obtained by taking the sum of temperature dependent bulk resistance of the workpieces and contact resistances at the faying surface and electrode-workpiece interface within an effective area corresponding to the electrode tip where welding current primarily flows. A contact resistance is composed of constriction and film resistances, which are functions of hardness, temperature, electrode force, electrical resistivity and surface condition. Unsteady, axisymmetric transport of mass, momentum, energy, species, and magnetic field intensity with a mushy-zone phase change in workpieces and temperature, and magnetic fields in electrodes during resistance spot welding, are systematically investigated. Electromagnetic force, joule heat, heat generation at the electrode-workpiece interface and faying surface between workpieces, different properties between phase, and geometries of electrodes are taken into account. The predicted nugget thickness and dynamic resistance versus time show quite good agreement with available experimental data. Excluding expulsion, the dynamic resistance curve can be divided into four stages. A rapid decrease of dynamic resistance in stage 1 is attributed to decreases in film resistances at the faying surface and electrode-workpiece interface. In stage 2, the increase in dynamic resistance results from the primary increase of bulk resistance in the workpieces and an increase of the sum of contact resistances at the faying surface and electrode-workpiece interface. Dynamic resistance in stage 3 decreases, because increasing rate of bulk resistance in the workpieces and contact resistances decrease. In stage 4 decrease of dynamic resistance is mainly due to the formation of the molten nugget at the faying surface. The molten nugget is found to occur in stage 4 rather than stage 2 or 3 as qualitatively proposed in the literature. The effects of different parameters on the dynamic resistence curve are also presented. Besides, electromagnetic force effect on velocity field of molten nugget was proven to be crucial. Higher current, smaller magnetic diffusivity and decreasing the radius of electrode tip will lead to high current density around the corner between electrode and workpiece. Sometimes the corner of electrode and surface of workpieces will be melted due to local high current density.