Application of the Friction Energy Density Approach to Predict Electrical Contact Endurance in a Silver-Plated Coating Subjected to Fretting Wear

Electrical contacts such as those involved in connectors are subject to critical fretting wear damage due to vibration. To increase electrical contact resistance (ECR) endurance, noble layer such gold or silver can be applied. However, when these top layers are worn through the introduction of copper and nickel oxides debris extracted from the substrate, fretting wear process drops ECR endurance. The ECR endurance is therefore governed by the wear rate of the protective top noble layer. It is, however, critical to be able to predict the endurance of such an interface. Extensive fretting wear analysis of a homogeneous Ag-Ni / Ag-Ni (2 µm) interface was here investigated for various gross sliding amplitudes (5<δg<15 µm) and various normal forces (1N