Comparison of Mechanical Properties for Several Electrical Spring Contact Alloys.

摘要

Purpose was to determine whether beryllium--nickel alloy 440 (Ni-1.95Be-0.5Ti) had mechanical properties which made it suitable as a substitute for the presently used precious metal contact alloys Paliney 7and Neyoro G,in certain electrical contact applications. Possible areas of applicability for the alloy were where extremely low contact resistance was not necessary or in components encountering elevated temperatures above those presently seen in weapons applications. Evaluation of the alloy involved three major experimental areas: (1) measurement of the room temperature microplastic (epsilon approximately 10exp -6 ) and macroplastic (epsilon approximately 10exp -3 ) behavior of alloy 440in various age hardening conditions, (2) determination of applied stress effects on stress relaxation or contact force loss,and (3) measurement of elevated temperature mechanical properties and stress relaxation behavior. Similar measurements were also made on Neyoro G and Paliney 7for comparison. Results show that beryllium-nickel alloy 440is equal or superior to the presently used Paliney 7and Neyoro G for normal Sandia requirements. For elevated temperature applications,alloy 440has clearly superior mechanical properties. 12fig. (ERA citation 01:023745)