Fretting corrosion of lubricated tin plated copper alloy contacts: Effect of temperature

The fretting corrosion behaviour of lubricated tin plated copper alloy contacts at ambient and elevated temperatures is addressed in this paper. At 27 °C, lubrication is very effective and the contact resistance remains stable for several thousand fretting cycles whereas at elevated temperatures (155 °C) the performance of lubricated contact is not appreciable. Surface profile and surface roughness confirm that the lubricated contacts have a smoother profile and experience a lesser damage at the contact zone at ambient as well as at elevated temperatures. The mechanism of fretting corrosion of tin plated contacts appears to be similar with and without lubrication at all the temperatures studied. The difference in performance of the lubricated contacts at ambient and elevated temperatures is due to the faster wear rate of tin coating at elevated temperatures. Oxidation of the contact zone of the lubricated contacts is prevented at all temperatures studied. The study concludes that lubrication is effective in improving the life of the tin plated copper alloy contacts under fretting conditions at ambient temperatures whereas at elevated temperatures lubrication provides only a marginal improvement in performance. The decrease in performance of lubricated tin plated contacts at elevated temperatures is due to the higher wear rate of tin coating and not due to evaporation of the lubricant.