Surface conditions of a contact interface can vary widely over the course of testing where arcing is occurring. The effects of these changes are usually problems with contact welding, high contact resistance and loss of material. In this paper the contact resistance of common relay contact materials of Ag/SnO_2 and Ag/Ni are measured as a function of contact force in the new and eroded conditions, in the typical relay contact force range of < 200g. The analysis of arced contact surfaces will help to characterize the stable relay design parameters needed to minimize contact resistance issues.
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