Simulation of the contact resistance of high voltage apparatus with the method of coupling contact surface

Heat generation and temperature rise are important indicators to measure the performance of high-voltage apparatus. Due to the electrical contact phenomena, the heat generated on the contact parts of high-voltage apparatus is a key issue in the thermal analysis. However, as a traditional and commonly used contact resistance model, the contact bridge structure is inaccurate in simulating electrical contact and difficult to use in the complicated parallel multi-contacts structure of high-voltage apparatus. This paper presents a novel modeling approach to simulate the contact resistance. Employing this approach, it is not a necessity creating a geometrical structure between the pair of contacts (e.g. the contact bridge). Instead, coupling together the area on both sides of the contact surface, the current can only flow through the coupled surface. By controlling the value of the coupled surface area, the current constriction effect is achieved and the appropriate contact resistance value can be simulated. Simulation has been included in paper in order to illustrate the operation of the designed model. By comparing the simulation result and the empirical value, the novel approach was proved to be effective.