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

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.