Contact Materials

The Benefits Of Contact Materials

The main objective of a contact material system is to combine the advantages of a number of 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 stamping. 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 designer can increase the potential of each metal. These techniques can be used to produce contact materials in several configurations including inlays for progressive die stamping of contact arms and switch parts and full overlays for producing contact buttons and heavy duty circuit breaker parts.