1、Designation: B576 94 (Reapproved 2010)Standard Guide forArc Erosion Testing of Electrical Contact Materials1This standard is issued under the fixed designation B576; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last
2、revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. Asuperscript epsilon () indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1. Scope1.1 This guide covers the major variables which affect therate of arc erosion of electrical contact materials and serves asa gu
3、ide in developing more detailed specifications for arc-erosion tests.1.2 Arc erosion testing involves some vaporization of ma-terial. It is the responsibility of the user to become familiarwith all hazards including those identified in the appropriateMaterial Safety Data Sheet for the material being
4、 tested.1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to become familiarwith all hazards including those identified in the appropriateMaterial Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for this product/ma
5、terialas provided by the manufacturer, to establish appropriatesafety and health practices, and determine the applicability ofregulatory limitations prior to use.2. Significance and Use2.1 The significance of the variables set forth in this guidewas proved by various laboratories using several test
6、systemsat test currents ranging from 100 to 35 000 A. These variableswill be significant for any case where voltage and current aresufficient to produce arcing.3. Major Variables3.1 Shape, Area, and Thickness:3.1.1 The area, shape, and thickness of the contact affect theerosion rates. As an example
7、of shape effects, the radius of thespherical crown affects the erosion in at least two ways: (1)itchanges the effective diameter of the contact and, ( 2) it affectsthe manner in which the arc moves about on the surface of thecontact. A contact with a hemispherical crown presents nosharp edges that w
8、ould result in different amounts of erosionproducts for a given amount of arcing and aids in the control ofthe arc when operating in air and other gases.3.1.2 The contacts may be given a type of normal shape andsurface roughness by a number of arcing operations prior torecording the contact loss. Th
9、ere may be a difference in theeffect of shape and diameter for different environments.3.1.3 Contact mounting, attachment, and bond integrity canaffect the arc erosion of materials and should be specified.3.2 Contact Velocity and Maximum Arc LengthThe veloc-ity of separation and the maximum arc lengt
10、h affect the erosionrate and, therefore, should be specified in formulating a test.3.3 Contact Orientation:3.3.1 The orientation of the contacts with respect to theearths gravitational field may affect the erosion rate and,therefore, should be specified. For example, the mating planesof the contacts
11、 might be vertical or horizontal.3.3.2 If the contacts mating planes are horizontal and adirect test current is used, the specifications should statewhether the anode or cathode is in the upper position.3.4 Environment:3.4.1 The type, pressure, temperature, and humidity of thegas atmosphere or the t
12、ype, pressure, and temperature of thesurrounding oil, affect the erosion rate and should be specified.3.4.2 The erosion rate in air may be quite different than thatunder oil.3.5 Arcing Current:3.5.1 An increase in arc current will cause an increase in thearc-erosion rate per coulomb of arcing, and t
13、hus it must bespecified.3.5.2 It follows then that the wave form of the arc current isimportant and source voltage and load current should bespecified.3.6 Arcing TimeThe time duration of individual arcs on anelectrical contact affects the erosion rate and thus it should bespecified.3.7 Closing Force
14、, Speed, and BounceThe severity of thedamage caused by the closing arcs depends on the closingspeed, closing force, and the number of bounces. All thesethree can be measured. The arc erosion that occurs because ofclosing arcs caused by contact bounce can be duplicated byproperly specifying other ite
15、ms in this list with particularemphasis on contact velocity and maximum arc length. Un-wanted closing arcs can be effectively eliminated from acontact test device, for example, by causing the test current toflow through the contacts after the contacts have been closed.1This guide is under the jurisd
16、iction of ASTM Committee B02 on NonferrousMetals and Alloys and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee B02.11 onElectrical Contact Test Methods.Current edition approved Dec. 1, 2010. Published December 2010. Originallyapproved in 1973. Last previous edition approved in 2005 as B576 94 (2005).D
17、OI: 10.1520/B0576-94R10.1Copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.3.8 Contact Body TemperatureThe mating contacts of acontact pair might have different temperatures and both shouldbe measured or specified just before the arcing
18、 operation.3.9 Total Number of Arcing OperationsThe total numberof arcs or, in other words, the time duration of the tests, mustbe specified for several reasons. First, the shape of the contactmay change as the test progresses; secondly, chemical actionsmay take place to change the erosion rate as,
19、for example, byformation of silver oxide on silver or tungsten oxide ontungsten.3.10 Arc MotionArc motion produced by any means, suchas magnetic fields, is important and should be specified.3.11 Polarity:3.11.1 Polarity may affect erosion rates and should bespecified, that is, is it constant or alte
20、rnating.3.11.2 Tests in which the polarity is constant may givedifferent erosion rates than those in which the polarity changes.Polarity effect could cause different surface conditions forsuccessive arcs.3.12 Operation RateThe operation rate affects the oper-ating temperature of the contact and, the
21、refore, the erosion rate.3.13 Opening Speed and Opening ForceThese two fac-tors affect the severity of the damage caused by the openingarc.4. Keywords4.1 arcing contacts; arc erosion; contacts; electrical con-tacts; electrical erosionASTM International takes no position respecting the validity of an
22、y patent rights asserted in connection with any item mentionedin this standard. Users of this standard are expressly advised that determination of the validity of any such patent rights, and the riskof infringement of such rights, are entirely their own responsibility.This standard is subject to rev
23、ision at any time by the responsible technical committee and must be reviewed every five years andif not revised, either reapproved or withdrawn. Your comments are invited either for revision of this standard or for additional standardsand should be addressed to ASTM International Headquarters. Your
24、 comments will receive careful consideration at a meeting of theresponsible technical committee, which you may attend. If you feel that your comments have not received a fair hearing you shouldmake your views known to the ASTM Committee on Standards, at the address shown below.This standard is copyr
25、ighted by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959,United States. Individual reprints (single or multiple copies) of this standard may be obtained by contacting ASTM at the aboveaddress or at 610-832-9585 (phone), 610-832-9555 (fax), or serviceastm.org (e-mail); or through the ASTM website(www.astm.org). Permission rights to photocopy the standard may also be secured from the ASTM website (www.astm.org/COPYRIGHT/).B576 94 (2010)2
