Resistance to arc erosion characteristics of CuO skeleton-reinforced Ag-CuO contact materials

In this paper, the arc eroded morphology and arc erosion characteristic of CuO skeleton-reinforced Ag-CuO contact materials were investigated. The arc eroded morphology of Ag-CuO samples was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The make-and-break arc erosion testing and arc erosion rates were conducted to determine the arc erosion characteristics of Ag-CuO samples. It was found that the Ag-CuO samples with CuO skeletal structure shown ideal arc erosion morphologies where no CuO-rich layers formed on arc eroded surface. Meanwhile, it was indicated that the arc erosion rates of Ag-CuO samples with CuO skeletal structure was decreased significantly. The present results indicated that the CuO skeleton-reinforced Ag-CuO contact materials exhibited excellent resistance to arc erosion characteristics.