Arc Erosion and Degradation Mechanism ofAg/Ti2AlC Composite

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2018.00534

Acta Metall Sin

2019, Vol. 55

Issue (5): 627-637 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2018.00534

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Arc Erosion and Degradation Mechanism ofAg/Ti₂AlC Composite

Jianxiang DING^1,²,Wubian TIAN²,Dandan WANG²,Peigen ZHANG²,Jian CHEN²,Zhengming SUN²(

)

1. Key Laboratory of Metallurgical Emission Reduction & Resources Recycling, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, China
2. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallic Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China

Cite this article:

Jianxiang DING,Wubian TIAN,Dandan WANG,Peigen ZHANG,Jian CHEN,Zhengming SUN. Arc Erosion and Degradation Mechanism ofAg/Ti₂AlC Composite. Acta Metall Sin, 2019, 55(5): 627-637.

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Abstract

Ag-based contact is widely used in low-voltage switch (contactor, relay and breaker), which determines the safety and stability of the circuit. Toxic Ag/CdO goes against the development of environmentally friendly materials and will be excluded from future market. Ag/10%Ti₂AlC (mass fraction, Ag/10TAC) composite shows excellent arc erosion resistance, and has the potential to replace Ag/CdO. Dynamic electric arc discharging experiment was performed on the Ag/10TAC contact surface to investigate its arc erosion mechanism. Inhomogeneous arc erosion generates three featured regions (unaffected, transitional, affected) on the contact surface. The various microstructure and chemical composition of Ag are attributed to the melting and vaporization of Ag, absorption of O₂, deposition of Ag-O vapor, and interdiffusion of Ag-Al. The rapid "decomposition-oxidation" process of Ti₂AlC accounts for the microstructure evolution and oxidation behavior of Ti₂AlC during arc erosion. The changes of structure and function on the contact surface lead to the degradation of Ag/10TAC composite.

Key words: metal-ceramic composite electrical contact material MAX phase microstructure oxidation electric arc erosion mechanism

Received: 23 November 2018

ZTFLH:

TG148

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(51731004);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51671054);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51501038);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China(2242018K40108);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China(2242018K40109);Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20181285)

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	Jianxiang DING
	Wubian TIAN
	Dandan WANG
	Peigen ZHANG
	Jian CHEN
	Zhengming SUN

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2018.00534 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2019/V55/I5/627

Fig.1 SEM image (a) and XRD spectrum (b) of the Ag/10%Ti₂AlC (Ag/10TAC) composite before electric arc discharging test (Inset shows the high magnified SEM image)

Fig.2 OM images of the Ag/10TAC contacts under electric arc discharging of 1 (a), 10 (b), 100 (c), 1000 (d) and 5610 (e) times in sequence

Fig.3 Mass loss and area loss of the Ag/10TAC contacts with increasing discharging times

Fig.4 Overall morphology evolutions of Ag/10TAC contacts with the increasing discharging of 1 (a), 10 (b), 100 (c), 1000 (d) and 5610 (e) times in sequence, and schematic of the electric arc action on the surface of Ag/10TAC contact (f)

Fig.5 Low (a) and high (b) magnified SEM images of uneroded region on the Ag/10TAC contact surface after 1-time discharging

Fig.6 Microstructures and element compositions of transition regions A (a) and B (b) on the Ag/10TAC contact surface (in Fig.4a) after 1-time discharging (Inset shows the enlarged image of Ti₂AlC) and EDS element map results of transition regions A (c) and B (d)

Fig.7 Microstructures and element composition of the eroded region on the Ag/10TAC contact surface after 1-time discharging(a) molten pool and its inside (b) enlarged image of Ti₂AlC in the center of eroded region

Fig.8 Microstructures and element composition of the eroded region on the Ag/10TAC contact surface after 10-times discharging(a) eroded region (b) enlarged image of spongy structure

Fig.9 Microstructures of the eroded region on the Ag/10TAC contact surface after 100-times discharging(a) eroded region (b) enlarged image of dark block

Table 1 EDS analyses of dark block in Fig.9b (atomic fraction / %)

Fig.10 Microstructure of the affected region on the Ag/10TAC contact surface after 1000-times discharging (a), enlarged SEM image of the dark block (b), XRD spectrum of the eroded region (c), SEM image of block with erosion pit (d) and enlarged image of erosion pit (e)

Fig.11 Microstructure of the eroded region on the Ag/10TAC contact surface after 5610-times discharging (a) and enlarged image of the broken block (b)

Fig.12 Schematics of electric arc erosion mechanism and degradation process of Ag/10TAC compositeColor online(a) electric arc acts on the contact surface and molten pool forms(b) Ag-O vapor deposits on contact surface and transitional region forms(c) inter-diffusion of Ag-Al deepens and thin Ti_xO_y layer generates in the early period(d) Ti_xO_y layer thickens(e) thick Ti_xO_y blocks with cracks form(f) Ti_xO_y blocks are damaged by electric arc and new Ag/TAC composite exposes

Table 3 EDS analyses on the edge and inside of erosion pit in Fig.10e (atomic fraction / %)

Table 2 EDS analyses of dark block in Fig.10b (atomic fraction / %)

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