Surface Degradation of Ag/W Circuit Breaker Contacts During Standardized UL Testing

Abstract

The near-surface microstructure of Ag/W contacts from 120 V, 30 A commercial circuit breakers in the as-manufactured condition and after standardized UL overload/temperature-rise, endurance, and short-circuit testing have been investigated using a combination of x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, focused ion beam milling, and transmission electron microscopy. The as-manufactured contacts comprised three constituents: sintered Ag/W composite particles with fine-grained Ag and coarse-grained W, coarse-grained pockets of Ag infiltrate, and a nano-crystalline surface Ag layer. There are also WO3 and Ag2O phases at the surface. After UL overload/temperature-rise testing, there is Ag loss giving a porous W-rich layer at the contact surface. In addition to binary oxides, we observe the formation of Ag2WO4. After UL endurance testing, material is swept across the surface by the breaker action giving a W-rich eroded porous surface on one side and a build-up of mixed oxides on the other. After UL short-circuit testing, a W crust forms due to melting and re-solidification of W and vaporization of Ag, and mid-plane cracks form due to the severe thermal gradients. There is a strong correlation between the observed microstructural features and the contact resistance measurements obtained from these samples.