Influence of operation number on arc erosion behavior of Ag/Ni electrical contact materials

Arc erosion behavior of Ag/Ni materials with different operation numbers was investigated by OM, 3DOP and SEM. The results indicated that the arc erosion of Ag/10Ni electrical contact material fabricated by sintering? extrusion technology was more and more serious with the operation numbers increasing from 1000 to 40000. With the same operation numbers, the arc erosion on anode was more serious than that on cathode. Besides, the pores preferred to emerge around the arc effect spot during the first 10000 operations. And the morphology of the molten silver on cathode and anode was different due to the action of gravity and arc erosion. Furthermore, the relationships among arc energy, arc time, welding force, electric resistivity, temperature and mass change on contacts were discussed, which indicated that the mass loss on cathode was mainly caused by the fracture of molten bridge.