The influence of the microstructure on the switching properties of Ag-C, Ag-WC-CAND Ag-W-C contact materials

Abstract

The correlation between the microstructure of Ag-C, Ag-WC-C and AgWC composites and their switching properties was investigated. Two methods were used to manufacture the starting powder mixtures, namely classical milling and mechanical alloying . The arc erosion, contact resistance and welding forces of the contact materials obtained by different methods were measured using model devices. This paper presents the results achieved for the tested materials. It was found that weight loss was lower for the contacts produced by high energy milling.