Study of temperature change and vibration induced fretting on intrinsically conducting polymer contact systems

Swingler, J., Lam, L. and McBride, J.W. (2009) Study of temperature change and vibration induced fretting on intrinsically conducting polymer contact systems. IEEE Transactions on Components and Packaging Technologies, 33 (2), 409-415. (doi:10.1109/TCAPT.2009.2031632).

Abstract

The study of fretting and the associated corrosion
has always been a key focus for many researchers involved in
the field of electrical contacts. This phenomenon usually occurs
when subjecting contacts to thermal cycling or vibration. Often,
it is also the direct cause for failure in electrical connector
systems and eventually leads to undesirable consequences in
numerous applications. With an increasing interest invested
in developing new contact materials, conducting polymers are
explored as possible alternatives to improve reliability by reducing
the influence of fretting degradation. In this paper, the
intrinsically conducting polymers (ICPs) used in the experiments
are poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiopene)/poly(4-styrenesulfonate) and
its blends with different weight ratios of dimethylformamide.
They have conductivity levels reaching the order of 10?2 S·cm?1
and possess easy processing capabilities. Contact samples are
fabricated by spin-coating or drop-coating ICP onto copper
surfaces to form conducting polymer contact interfaces. These
samples are then placed in two different types of fretting
apparatus and tested independently using the thermal cycling and
vibration procedures. Field vehicles tests are also conducted. The
initial experimental results reveal that the resistance decreases
as temperature and the number of fretting cycles increase.
Furthermore, for the same polymer blend, the type of coating
technique and the coating thickness also affect the output
resistance.

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Contributors

Author: J.W. McBride

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