Metallurgic and Contact Resistance Studies of Sleeve Connectors in Aluminum Cable Splices

Abstract

Two types of sleeve connector used in aluminum cable splices were examined after being tested in a series of accelerated aging experiments. Diagnostic techniques such as optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis were applied to reveal the microstructure of the contact. The observation correlates well with measurements of the contact resistance. Corrective measures are suggested to improve the performance of the cable splices. © 1990 IEEE.