ABSTRACT
All electrical contacts, excluding welded and soldered contacts, can be considered friction units. When analyzing the operation of different types of contacts, they can be considered as current-passing tribosystems for which friction, wear, and lubrication problems are essential. The micro-motion induces the deformation and wear of the contact surfaces leading to surface activation, corrosion, formation of wear particles and contaminations on contact spots, and finally, current passage breakdown. When designing separable contacts, one should take into account the applied contact force, wear resistance, and durability. Since in most electronic and electrical devices a large amount of nonferrous and noble metals is used for separable electrical contacts by the manufacturers, the tribological assessment of their reliability is crucial. Inevitable interrelation of friction and current in operation is an important feature of moving electrical contacts. The effect of boundary films can also be divided into groups which define positive and negative factors influencing the performance of sliding contacts.
