The Effect of Graphene Content on the Anti-Ablation Property of CuCr Contacts

CuCr alloy has high voltage resistance strength and high segmentation capacity, and is widely used in medium and high pressure vacuum interrupters. Graphene has high electrical conductivity, high thermal conductivity, and ultra-high mechanical properties, and has been applied to the research on the performance improvement of high-voltage tungsten copper contact materials, low-voltage copper-based contacts, and silver-based contact materials in the field of power switches. In this paper, 0 wt%, 1 wt% and 3 wt% graphene were added to CuCr contact materials respectively to study the existence of graphene in CuCr contacts and its influence on the anti-ablation properties of CuCr contact materials. The results show that most of the graphene in the CuCr contacts is in the form of Cr2C, and a small amount of graphene is present in the local copper-rich matrix. After the addition of graphene, it can be seen from the metallographic photos that with the increase of graphene, the thickness of the ablation layer gradually decreases, and the arc ablation resistance of the contact surface is improved.