Calculation of Bridge Shapes in Liquid Metal Contacts

Abstract

AbstractThe article is devoted to the development of a mathematical model describing the operation processes of sealed contacts reed relay - seal switches with the liquid metal contact. One of the most important stages of operation in such devices is a contact breaking, i.e. transformation and destruction of the liquid metal bridge. The paper considers such a process in the first approximation for a two-dimensional model under the assumption of liquid volume constancy. The solution of the equation for the equilibrium liquid surface in this case is determined by three parameters - boundary conditions and the constraint equation displaying the bridge volume constancy. Six different cases of liquid contact with electrodes are considered. For each case, the solution of the equation is given with respect to the liquid metal bridge formant at the corresponding boundary conditions. The application area of the solutions is indicated. The solutions are presented as systems of transcendental equations with respect to wetting angles of contacting surfaces or coordinates where the bridge boundaries touch the contact planes, the surface curvature and the bridge volume. KeywordsCommutation switchesSeal switchLiquid-metal contact