Contact Materials

The Benefits Of Contact Materials

The main objective of a contact material system is to combine the advantages of several materials into one system that provides improved characteristics over a single metal. Clad contact materials can combine the conductivity of copper, the tensile strength of steel and the contact resistance of silver into one cost effective product line. 

By putting the exact amount of precious contact material on a heat-sinking base such as copper and then combining this with the support of steel, the design can increase the potential of each metal. These techniques can be used to produce contact materials in several configurations including inlays used for parts in contact arms & switch parts and full overlays for producing contact buttons and heavy-duty circuit breaker parts.