Electrothermal Nonlinearities in Contacts of Rough Conductors

Contact joints of conductors with rough surfaces exhibit nonlinear behaviour. The concurrent electric, thermal and mechanical effects coexist but have substantially different time scales. Electrothermal effect in the contacts of rough surfaces is studied in this work. The time evolution of the contact temperature and resistance are evaluated when asperities, shaped as the frustum of cones, are compressed against each other.