Miniaturization of thin cantilever-like contacts

One consequence of connector miniaturization is the increased sensitivity of the contact normal force to tolerances in geometric and material parameters. This effect is studied for contacts that can be modeled structurally as thin cantilevers, where the tip load corresponds to the normal force. Design curves are developed showing the change in sensitivity as a function of reduction in size for tolerances in length, width, thickness, and Young´s modulus. The complementary problem of determining the reduction in tolerance needed to maintain a given normal force variation as the contact is reduced is also solved. The contact that is stressed into the elastic-plastic regime in the reduced configuration is considered. It is found that, for thin cantilever-like contacts, the sensitivity of normal forces is increased most for tolerances in length, followed by tolerances in thickness. However, since the percentage tolerance in thickness is greater than the tolerance in length for most designs, thickness will likely be the critical parameter in reducing a design. It is also found that to maintain a given normal force range as one scales down, the tolerances allowed have to be reduced by the scaling factor