Effect of connection design on the contact resistance of high power overlapping bolted joints

The effect of design changes on the contact resistance of overlapping bolted/pad joints was investigated. It was found that slanting the edges of the bus-bars/pads under 45/spl deg/ and making slots in the overlapping areas significantly reduce the contact resistance of a joint and improve its mechanical integrity. These improvements are results of enlarged contact area and creation of a uniform current distribution at the contact interface.