Investigation on Electrical and Thermal Performance of Electrical Connectors Under Rough Surface Contact

Rough contact creates a large electrical and thermal resistance between the contact surfaces of the electrical connector, which has a great impact on its usage. This work adopted finite element simulation to investigate the electrical and thermal properties in the contact region of electrical connectors. The Weierstrass-Mandelbrot (W-M) fractal function was used to model the contact of crown spring connectors with various roughness. The effects of different roughness and contact force on the electrical and thermal contact performance were analyzed. The increased roughness and decreased contact force cause a reduction in the contact area, resulting in the concentration of current and heat flow. The reduced contact area contributes to the increase of electrical contact resistance (ECR) and thermal contact resistance (TCR). The research indicates that smoothing the interfaces and increasing the contact force can effectively enhance contact performance.