Power Connector Behavior Used in Automotive Applications

Abstract

The increase in the number of electronic and electric systems used in the automotive industry necessitates a high level of electric power. To respond to this high electric power demand, it will be necessary to increase the voltage of the batteries and the current and to use new power connectors. A connector provides a separable interface between two subsystems of an electronic system. The main function of the connector is to transmit a signal or distribute power. For power connectors, heating can lead to an increase in contact resistance and sometimes even to contact surface melting and thus to connector damage. In this study, vibration tests and heat evolution of a commercial power connector used in the automotive industry was undertaken. The connector includes two spring lamellas on each side and the pin is flat. The pin is introduced between the two lamella springs and is submitted to vibration tests. Using an experimental set-up, the mechanical insertion force, the temperature and the resistance evolution can be measured. To quantify these parameters at the contact zone, a numerical modeling, using the finite element software Ansys, is used to give the change of the insertion force during several insertion-extraction cycles and to solve the differential equations for heat transfer in a transitory mode.