Scientific article
English

Electro-mechanical properties of composite materials for high-current contact applications

Published inJournal of physics. D, Applied physics, vol. 47, no. 12, 125501
Publication date2014
Abstract

We report a detailed study that compares various composite materials (CM): Ag/ZnO, Ag/SnO2, Ag/C, Ag/WC, Ag/WC–C and Ag/Ni used in high-current dc circuit breaker applications. Their structural, mechanical, electrical and wetting properties were investigated. In parallel, switching operation tests on the same compounds were performed on commercial high-speed circuit breakers under real conditions (30 kA–900 V). A correlation between the microscopic variables and switching performances of the CMs was established. Materials like Ag/WC and Ag/WC–C were found to be unsuitable for the reliable functionality of the device. In contrast, Ag/C and Ag/SnO2 materials with high electrical and high thermal conductivity revealed remarkably good behaviour during switching operation tests.

Keywords
  • Electrical contact materials
  • Circuit breakers
  • Material properties
Citation (ISO format)
JACIMOVIC, Jacim et al. Electro-mechanical properties of composite materials for high-current contact applications. In: Journal of physics. D, Applied physics, 2014, vol. 47, n° 12, p. 125501. doi: 10.1088/0022-3727/47/12/125501
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Article (Published version)
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0022-3727
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Creation31/03/2014 11:27:00
First validation31/03/2014 11:27:00
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