Influence of attachment quality on the performance of arcing electrical contacts

The electrical performance of arcing electrical contacts in AC and DC switching devices depends not only on the switch design and contact material but also on the quality of the attachment of the contact component to the support carrier. Various attachment methods such as welding and brazing lead to different characteristics of the bond interfaces. This paper describes the different attachment methods and resulting qualitative bond properties and attempts to quantify them. Since there are only few more widely accepted standards the authors show results of different tests and offer guidance for defining and measuring the required bond quality as it relates to the electrical performance of the switching devices.