An experimental investigation of contact bounce in medium duty contacts

An investigation of the parameters influencing the dynamics of electrical contact bounce under medium current loading (1-30 A) was carried out. A new measurement system which offers an improvement in the monitoring of mechanism dynamics is presented. The system is based on the measurement of small impact displacements using an infrared optical method. In addition, the measurement of impact forces has been achieved using a piezoelectric film (PVDF). The results show the effect of current loading and the associated thermal softening on the impact and the separation characteristics occurring during contact bounce.<
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