METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF COPPER-CHROMIUM CONTACTS FOR VACUUM SWITCHES, AND ASSOCIATED SWITCHING CONTACTS

摘要

Homogeneous copper-chromium alloys can be produced at best by rapidly supercooling alloys molten at elevated temperatures because of the miscibility gap in the copper-chromium phase diagram. Great efforts are therefore required to produce contacts from said alloys. According to the invention, copper-chromium contacts for vacuum switches are manufactured by producing a thin copper-chromium sheet as a starting material for the contacts, said thin copper-chromium sheet being produced by means of a casting or spraying process, followed by rapid quenching. Concentration profiles in the strip (50) can be adjusted perpendicular to the direction of the strip by adequately conducting the production process because particularly the chromium diffuses to the surface in the form of Cr particles or droplets (Cr).