Comparison of the Stability of Gold and Palladium Alloy Connector Contacts Subjected to Vibration

Printed wiring board connector contacts utilizing gold and various palladium based alloys have been subjected to vibration testing to accelerate degradation caused by fretting or frictional polymer formation. The resistance of each contact was measured before the test and at various intervals throughout the test. The results show that the contacts with the maximum gold content are the most stable in this test. Pure palladium contacts mated with pure palladium contacts are the least stable. Further tests have shown that palladium-based materials covered with thin gold or gold-rich layers perform satisfactorily.