A discussion of the contact behaviour of a carbon-fibre composite for electric contact applications

A new electric contact of a conductive carbon-fibre-based polymer-matrix composite, referred to as a distributed-filament contact (DFC), is introduced in this paper. Its advantages and limitations are discussed and compared with those of conventional metallic and non-metallic contacts. To give an outline of DFC contact behaviour, a theoretical electro-mechanical contact model for the relationship between DFC contact resistance and normal force is developed. The analytical results and the experimental data are compared. On the basis of this comparison, the dominant factors of DFC electric contact properties are discussed. The results show good agreement between the theoretical analysis and experimental data in a certain range of low contact forces, and suggest that the relationship between DFC contact resistance and normal force is controlled by two factors other than bulk resistance. This work is expected to give some preliminary results for further research. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.