Correlation between friction and wear properties and electrical performance of silver coated electrical connectors

The wear resistance of coatings is a very important factor which not only influences the reliability but also the lifetime of electrical connectors. The coefficient of friction of the coating, along with the normal force of the contacts, determines the insertion and extraction force of connectors and in addition represents an important indicator for the state of the contact surfaces. The main finding of this study is the disproportionate increase in lifetime with increasing thickness of silver coating. The difference between wear and friction curves of thin and thick silver coatings and the correlation between the different phases of friction curves and different stages of wear curves are analyzed, with the adhesive friction being the dominating type of friction in all four phases of friction, which peaks to its maximum in the phase II. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.