An investigation of CuCr contact materials with low chopping current

In this paper, the chopping current, interruption capability and dielectric strength of CuCr, CuCrWC and CuCrTeSe contact materials are measured. Experimental results show that the addition of WC, Te, Se to CuCr alloys can reduce the chopping current, and at the same time has little influence on the interruption capability. Furthermore, the dielectric strength of CuCr alloys will increase when WC is added to alloys, while the addition of Te, Se to CuCr alloy will decrease the dielectric strength to some extent. The composition, microstructure and alloy element scatter of these alloys before and after arcing are measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of WC, Te, Se in CuCr alloys is investigated preliminarily.