Wear and Corrosion Behavior of Connectors in High-Temperature Environment

Pins and jacks play an important role in the transmission capability and reliability of electrical connectors. Their surface coating is especially vulnerable under mechanical friction or varying temperature condition. In this work, the repetitive mechanical insertion and withdrawal experiments are conducted with the use of self-designed test rig. The wear and corrosion behaviors of circular electrical connectors are experimentally investigated under mechanical operations at temperature ranging from 25 to 120 °C. The variations in contact resistance and force observed in the mechanical wear tests are recorded and interpreted explicitly. The effect of temperature on the insertion characteristic curve is compared and analyzed. Based on the variation in contact resistance and force, surface morphology and element analysis, the degradation mechanisms of connectors under different temperatures are illustrated explicitly. The mechanical lifetime of connectors is approximately 12,500, 15,000 and 8500 at 25, 60 and 120 °C, respectively. The results show the temperature stress has a substantial influence on the wear and corrosion behavior of electrical contact interface.