Trimetal Contact
 
Trimetal Contact consist of soft, high-conductivity, oxidation-resistant materials used as the makeup of electrical components. They are the materials in a system through which an electrical current flows; such as:

  • Circuit breakers
  • Relays,
  • Switches,
  • EDM applications
  • earth leakage breakers
Trimetal Contact rivets comes in a variety of sizes. You can find options both small to extremely large, depending on your voltage requirements and usage.
Trimetal Contact are typically made from any metal with high electrical conductivity. However, in applications such as high-power equipment where mechanical wear is expected, a conductive metal may be used. Common electrical contact materials include:
  • Silver
  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Platinum
  • Palladium
  • Brass

Trimetal Contact Material Properties

When choosing the best Trimetal Contact for your application, it is important to keep in mind the six most important properties:

  • Conductivity
  • Corrosion Resistance
  • Hardness
  • Current Load
  • Cycle Life
  • Size

Trimetal Contact Conductivity

Conductivity refers to the measure of a materials ability to conduct or carry an electric current. You will see this as a percent of a copper standard (ex: 100% International Annealed Copper Standard or IACS) Silver, which has the highest conductivity, has an IACS of 105.

Corrosion Resistance

Corrosion resistance of electrical contacts refers to a material’s ability to resist chemical decay. Any material with little corrosion resistance will decay faster than ones with high resistance.

Hardness

This measures how resistant materials are to various kinds of permanent deformations from an applied force. It is dependant on five factors:

  • Ductility
  • Elasticity
  • Plasticity
  • Tensile Strength
  • Toughness
 
 
 
Alloys composition
  • Silver Cadmium Oxide
  • Silver Graphite
  • Silver Tin Oxide
  • Silver Nickel

Scope

This information refers to silver cadmium oxide wires, profiles and contact tips manufactured by blending of silver and cadmium oxide powder,cornpacting, sintering, extruding and then drawing or rolling to final dimension. Profiles and tips are available with a brazeable silver backing layer.

DESIGNATION OF STANDARD COMPOSITIONS

The silver content is designated by the first number: e.gAg/CdO 88/12 with 88 wt.-% silver, balance CdO. The standard oxide contents are 10,12 and 15.

Applications

  • switches for domestic applications, main switches
  • earth leakage breakers, miniature circuit breakers
  • contactors
  • circuit breakers up to a switching current of 3000 A
  • power Line relays

CHARACTERISTICS

  • excellent anti-welding properties on make, higher CdO content is improving anti-welding properties
  • low contact resistance compared to other metal oxides
  • contact resistance stable throughout the time life
  • low arc erosion,excellent arc extinguishing properties
  • tendency for material transfer in DC applications

MICROSTRUCTURE

The nature of our Production process leads to a certain orientation of the CdO particles along the direction of extrusion.

Longitudinal Sectional
Ag/CdO 90/ 10 SP

Cross Section
Ag/CdO 90/ 10 SP

Longitudinal Sectional
Ag/CdO 85/ 15 SP

Physical Properties

Material Ag/CdO 90/ 10 SP Ag/CdO 90/ 10 SP Ag/CdO 85/ 15 SP
Density [g/cm3] 10.2 10.1 10.0
Electrical Conductivity [m/(Ω.mm2)] 48 47 45
Hardness Soft [Mpa] 50 60 65
Tensile Strenght Soft[Mpa] 240 250 260
Elongation [%] 30 29 25
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