Prediction of Electrical Connectors Performance Under Automotive Sine Sweep Vibration Profile

Mechanical vibration has long been recognized as one of the major drivers for fretting degradation in electrical connectors used in automotive systems. The use of electrical connectors in a vehicle is preceded by the validation of components that verify the reliability and functionality of the components over the assumed vehicle lifetime. The validation procedure can be developed on the basis of several different standards. It is, however, difficult to predict if each connector developed will pass a given automotive vibration profile without fretting degradation. A new approach allowing to predict the connector performance submitted to different automotive vibration profiles would be of great value for connector designers and applications. An earlier initial study was conducted in which a 3-D finite element (FE) model was developed and experimentally validated for an electrical connector system under a single frequency applied. The present study is the next step in this effort. The 3-D model for this same connector system has been used to determine the relative motion transfer function at the contact point first. Then, the curve of the mechanical performance of the connector was established by multiplying the relative motion transfer function with the automotive vibration profile. Finally, the results of mechanical performance of the connector were combined with the contact electrical endurance to predict the performance of the connector system in terms of contact resistance variations.