Surface Interaction and Wear Due to Sliding Electrical Contact of Materials

This article reports a research study on sliding electrical contacts of copper-diamond materials, involving modeling and validation, contact status simulations, and parametric studies. The simulation model includes the analyses of both mechanical and electrical heat sources, evaluations of heat partition and temperature, and the capture of material thermal softening, plastic deformation, and material removal. The simulation model is validated through result comparison with experimental average temperature and measured wear. With this model, temperature variation and surface wear accumulation were numerically predicted under the influences of material property variations. Factors influencing wear of the copper surfaces were explored, and parameter sensitivity was investigated by means of the Taguchi L18 matrix. The results reveal that thermally related parameters of the contact interface strongly affect the wear of the copper pin, and thermal conductivity of its mating surface material is of critical importance. The research also suggests that the electromagnetic field change due to switching the polarity of the power supply does not affect the friction and wear results; however, the polarity change influences material electrochemistry, which results in a difference in friction and wear.