Wear of connector contacts exposed to relative motion

Connectors play a significant role in the performance, cost, and reliability of electronic equipment. In connection with the development of the system interconnection design, a factor which is often overlooked is related to the importance of connector selection and mounting to minimize relative motion between contacts during vibration encountered in handling, transportation, and service. This motion can lead to the loss of protective coatings (gold and nickel) due to frictional wear. If this happens, fretting corrosion of the base metals may occur. The produced damage can adversely affect performance due to increased joint resistance, eventually causing intermittent contacts. The present investigation is concerned with the study of different style contacts (tuning fork, box, and circular) to determine their endurance and wear characteristics when exposed to relative motion created by vibration. All contacts investigated were fabricated from brass, beryllium copper, or phosphor bronze, and had .00127 mm minimum gold plating over .00127 mm minimum nickel plating.