Electrical-thermal-mechanical-wear modeling and experimental validation for electrical contact under fretting conditions

Electrical contacts have widespread application in electrical and electronic equipment. Fretting wear is a dominant cause of electrical contact failure. This study conducted numerical and experimental investigations on the electrical, mechanical, thermal, and wear behavior of electrical contact under fretting wear conditions. The fretting wear tests are carried out on a CuZn40 alloy under a specified current load, fretting displacement, and normal force. An electrical contact resistance (ECR) model is obtained from experimental results with three evolution stages based on the Weibull distribution and parabolic oxidation law. A co-simulation method is then established to evaluate the electrical-thermal-mechanical-wear behavior of electrical contact, in which the ECR evolution model is used. The numerical method proposed in this study is validated by comparing the simulation results of the wear volume, profile, and temperature rise with the experimental data. After the validation of the method, the variation in contact pressure, temperature distribution, wear morphology, and electric potential distribution with fretting wear cycles is investigated. The results suggest that the co-simulation method is efficient in investigating the electrical contact behavior under fretting wear.