The influence of bounce parameters on the make erosion of silver/metal-oxide contact materials

The influence of the bounce parameters (bounce arc duration, bounce height and static contact force, current and magnetic induction) on the make only erosion was investigated by systematic variation of each single parameter value in a bounce model switch. The model switch simulates bounces occurring in modern contactors. Ag/SnO/sub 2/ suffered either three times higher or about 50% lower erosion losses than Ag/CdO depending on the manufacturing process (internally oxidized, powder metallurgically produced) and/or the additives of the materials, and therefore on the structure of the materials rather than on the kind of metal oxide component (CdO or SnO/sub 2/). The different make erosion rates of the materials investigated have been correlated with the micro structure of their stressed surfaces.