Predicting the contact resistance distribution of electrical contacts by modeling the contact interface

Author

Caven, R.W., Jr. ; Jalali, J.

Author_Institution

General Motors Corp., Warren, OH, USA

fYear

1991

fDate

6-9 Oct. 1991

Firstpage

83

Lastpage

89

Abstract

Develops a personal computer model that predicts contact resistance distributions for clean electrical contacts. The authors describe the modeling technique in detail and compare model prediction with laboratory results. The model takes an approach that integrates contact theory with Monte Carlo simulation. The surface asperities are spherically shaped and randomly distributed over the contact surface, and have heights that follow a Gaussian distribution. The model predicts the mean resistance of a gold butt contact reasonably well. The largest error was 0.2 m Omega at a 1.0-N contact force.<>

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; contact resistance; electrical contacts; Au; Gaussian distribution; Monte Carlo simulation; butt contact; contact force; contact interface; contact resistance distribution; contact theory; electrical contacts; mean resistance; model prediction; surface asperities; Contact resistance; Electric resistance; Electrical resistance measurement; Microcomputers; Monte Carlo methods; Predictive models; Probability distribution; Surface cleaning; Surface resistance; Surface topography;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Contacts, 1991. Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh IEEE Holm Conference on

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0231-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/HOLM.1991.170807

Filename

170807