New microstructure investigations of arc damaged silver/tinoxide electrodes by means of FIB-technique

Conference: ICEC 2014 - The 27th International Conference on Electrical Contacts
06/22/2014 - 06/26/2014 at Dresden, Deutschland

Proceedings: ICEC 2014

Pages: 5Language: englishTyp: PDF

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Authors:
Selzner, Christian; Muecklich, Frank (Chair of functional materials, Dept. Materials Science & Engineering, Saarland University, Germany)

Abstract:
Material damage caused by an electric arc appears in several technically relevant applications. This has got a negative impact especially on the service life and the characteristics of the components affected. The knowledge of the interaction between material and electric arc is therefore very important for a better understanding and the further development of materials. The objective of this work is to contribute a fundamental understanding of this interaction und the degradation of the microstructure. This objective is implemented in a technically relevant contact material – Silver-Tinoxide (Ag/SnO2). A model switch was designed for the Ag/SnO2 material in order to keep different parameters constant. The microstructure modifications and the morphologic changes at the electrodes were then interpreted under different aspects. Subsequently, the microstructures were reconstructed by FIB tomography and were used for the simulation of electrical conductivity.