Electrical Contacts, 2nd Edition

22

Sliding Contacts for Instrumentation and Control

Glenn Dorsey and Jax Glossbrenner

Curve: the loveliest distance between two points.

Mae West

CONTENTS

22.1    Introduction

22.2    Sliding Contact—The Micro Perspective

22.2.1    Mechanical Aspects

22.2.2    Motion Initiation (Pre-Sliding)

22.2.3    Friction Forces

22.2.4    Motion Continuation

22.2.5    Adhesion

22.2.6    Adhesive Transfer

22.2.7    Plowing, or “Two-Body,” Abrasion

22.2.8    Hard Particle, or “Three-Body,” Abrasion

22.2.9    Motion Over Time

22.3    Electrical Performance

22.3.1    Contact Resistance Variation (Noise)

22.3.2    Non-Ohmic Noise

22.3.3    Non-Linear Noise (Frequency Dependent)

22.3.4    Contact Impedance

22.3.4    Data Integrity

22.4    Micro-Environment of ...