Contact Bounce Model Considering Arc Ignition for Relay Contact Reliability Evaluation

Effective and comprehensive information of the bounce behavior for the relay will greatly affect the contact reliability evaluation. Due to the coexistence of the vibration problem and the correlations evaporation in the physical behaviors of the components, the contact process is difficult to simulate especially for relay with arc ignition. In view of the importance of the contact bounce model for obtaining accurate contact information, a new contact bounce model considering arc phenomena is established in this study, which can provide a quantitative explanation for the experimental behavior. The advantages of proposed bounce model are: 1) it involves the impact, bounce, electrical fields, magnetic force, repulsion force, and electrical arc during the closing operation for a real relay; and 2) it is computationally efficient and capable in simulating dynamic process and collecting bounce parameters. The application on a typical commercial relay demonstrates the performance of the proposed model. It is found that the bouncing tendency of the contact reed is determined by the plasma pressure and the impact effect in the contact area.