EFFECT OF ARC BEHAVIOR ON MATERIAL TRANSFER - A REVIEW

One of the serious problems of arcing in relays and switches is leadin g to material transfer, thus resulting in the loss of contact material and the early end of lifetime. Although this phenomenon has been stud ied for many years, there are still many unsolved problems. This paper is a review of material transfer due to arcing based on published wor k by the authors and by the other investigators, Included are a discus sion of transfer mechanism, called particle sputtering and deposition (PSD) model; a survey of contact materials, circuit parameters, electr ode temperatures, and surrounding gases which have been determined to affect are behavior and material transfer; the effect of contact surfa ce temperature distribution, are spot dimension, are root stability, a nd are duration on wearout or loss of contact material from two contac ts; and an idea of balance transfer (''zero'' loss) operation. It is e xpected that this paper could supply some basic considerations for con trolling material transfer in practical applications.