Characteristics of Intermittent Fault in Electrical Connectors Under Vibration Environment

The intermittent fault (IF) in electrical systems is considered to be one of the most challenging problems to tackle. At present, there remains a lack of understanding as to the mechanism of IF. Therefore, this letter is focused on the characteristics of IF in electrical connectors under vibration environment. Based on the mechanical structure of a certain kind of electrical connector, a dynamic model is constructed to analyze how its contact resistance varies under vibration environment. In addition, a vibration test rig intended for electrical connectors and a contact resistance acquisition system are developed. Under vibration environment, experiments are conducted on electrical connectors with IF injected. According to the results obtained from both sweep-frequency and fixed-frequency vibration test, some conclusions are summarized regarding the frequency, amplitude, and phase characteristics of the IF in electrical connectors, which is conducive to improving the understanding as to the fundamental mechanism of IF caused by vibration stress.