Dynamics Evolution and Mechanical Properties of the Erosion Process of Ag-CuO Contact Materials

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2021.00498

Acta Metall Sin

2022, Vol. 58

Issue (10): 1305-1315 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2021.00498

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Dynamics Evolution and Mechanical Properties of the Erosion Process of Ag-CuO Contact Materials

MA Minjing¹, QU Yinhu¹, WANG Zhe¹^,²(

), WANG Jun¹, DU Dan¹

^1.School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Polytechnic University, Xi'an 710048, China
^2.School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China

Cite this article:

MA Minjing, QU Yinhu, WANG Zhe, WANG Jun, DU Dan. Dynamics Evolution and Mechanical Properties of the Erosion Process of Ag-CuO Contact Materials. Acta Metall Sin, 2022, 58(10): 1305-1315.

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Abstract

Silver-copper oxide (Ag-CuO) materials are gaining more and more interest in the low voltage switches' field owing to their lower material transfer characteristics. However, with increasing arc erosion during the make-and-break operations, the CuO microstructure's dynamic evolution is complicated by the interaction of the convection-diffusion with the flow path. Therefore, tuning the microstructure to maximize the arc erosion properties of Ag-CuO contact materials using the dynamic model is crucial for their application in switches. In this study, three-dimensional models of Ag-CuO contacts were reconstructed by phase identification and microstructure analysis, using the microstructure characteristics of the Ag-45CuO (skeleton-restricted Ag-CuO) and Ag-20CuO (island-restricted Ag-CuO) contact materials. In parallel, the arc erosion dynamics of the microstructure evolution and skeleton reconstruction process were tracked and explored by employing computational fluid dynamics simulations. Experiment and simulation findings both indicate that the repetitive thermal effect can cause the formation of a cratered and smooth molten pool surface in island-restricted Ag-CuO and skeleton-restricted Ag-CuO, respectively. The local gap of skeleton-restricted Ag-CuO contact can function as the driving force to reconstruct the CuO skeleton, the newly formed CuO with an anisotropic microstructure, which can impede Ag's segregation and evaporation in the molten pool. The restructures of CuO are unimportant for the island-restricted Ag-CuO contact, and the continuous erosion impact of island CuO can render the contact invalid. Additionally, the CuO microstructure's effect on the mechanical properties of Ag-CuO contacts was examined by employing the local three-dimensional models, which were reconstructed using the visual recognition technology combined with the finite element approach. The findings exhibit that the skeleton CuO structure was less susceptible to stress and strain concentration at the molten pool surface compared with the island CuO structure, which can efficiently disperse the local effect force on the molten pool and can substantially enhance the Ag-CuO contact's erosion resistance.

Key words: Ag-CuO contact material erosion resistance skeleton reconstruction dynamic microstructure evolution mechanical property

Received: 18 November 2021

ZTFLH:

TG146.3

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52007137);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51607132);China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2021M702566);Shaanxi Provincial Education Department Special project(20JK0661)

About author: WANG Zhe, associate professor, Tel: (029)82330167, E-mail: cangture@xjtu.edu.cn

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	Minjing MA
	Yinhu QU
	Zhe WANG
	Jun WANG
	Dan DU

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2021.00498 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2022/V58/I10/1305

Fig.1 SEM images of Ag powders (a), CuO powders (b), and Ag-CuO powders (c), schematic of the hot-press sintering (d), 3D models of Ag-CuO materials (e), schematics of the experimental and simulated procedures of Ag-CuO materials (f) (FEM—finite element method, CFD—computational fluid dynamics)

Table 1 Species properties of models^[21,22]

Fig.2 XRD spectra of Ag-20CuO and Ag-45CuO materials (a); SEM images of Ag-20CuO (b) and Ag-45CuO materials (e) (The typical CuO phases are highlighted in blue); EDS analyses of Ag-CuO material from the blue and gray boxes in Fig.2e (d); initial 3D models of Ag-20CuO (c) and Ag-45CuO materials (f)

Fig.3 Simulation and experimental results of surface erosion of island-restricted (a-c) and skeleton-restricted (d-f) Ag-CuO contacts
(a, d) 3D models of contacts at the instant of erosion process
(b, e) simulated surface morphologies of contacts after 1 × 10⁴ make-and-break operations
(c, f) experimental surface morphologies of contacts after 1 × 10⁴ make-and-break operations

Fig.4 Dynamic evolutions of CuO concentrations in the molten pool of island-restricted (a) and skeleton-restricted (b) Ag-CuO contacts at 1 × 10², 1 × 10³, and 1 × 10⁴ make-and-break operations

Fig.5 Dynamic evolutions of surface morphology (heights in the color maps) and Ag phase (3D models in the black boxes) of island-restricted (a-c) and skeleton-restricted (d-f) Ag-CuO contacts at 200 ms (a, d), 400 ms (b, e), and 600 ms (c, f), respectively, in 1 × 10³ make-and-break operation

Fig.6 Vertical section images of experimental (a, c) and simulated (b, d) island-restricted (a, b) and skeleton-restricted (c, d) Ag-CuO contacts after 1 × 10⁴ make-and-break operations (w(Ag)—mass fraction of Ag)

Fig.7 Phases identified diagrams and 3D morphologies of molten pool surface of island-restricted (a-c) and skeleton-restricted (d-f) Ag-CuO contacts
(a, d) identified SEM images (The typical areas are highlighted in blue)
(b, e) reverse reconstructed models (The typical areas are highlighted in yellow)
(c, f) local pretreatment models

Fig.8 Deformation distributions, stress distributions, and surface profiles of molten pool surfaces of island-restricted (a-c) and skeleton-restricted (d-f) Ag-CuO contacts
(a, d) deformation distributions of contacts
(b, e) stress distributions of contacts (The typical paths are marked by white-lines)
(c, f) surface profiles of contacts

Fig.9 Mechanical properties of molten pool surfaces of island-restricted and skeleton-restricted Ag-CuO contacts
(a, b) stress (a) and strain (b) of CuO phases with increasing contact time in Figs.8a and d
(c, d) stress (c) and strain (d) of white-line paths with changing position in Figs.8b and e

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