Changing the Characteristics of Contact Spots When Short-Circuit Currents Flow through Closed High-Current Electrical Contacts

Numerical simulation of heating of the vicinity of contact spots of closed copper high-current contacts by short-circuit currents of various shapes is carried out. The relationship between the parameters of thermal and mechanical fields when heated to temperatures exceeding the recrystallization temperature of the material is established. The dynamics of changes in the sizes of elastic and plastic deformations and their localization is shown. It is revealed in which cases the results of heating the contact surroundings may differ significantly with the flow of thermally equivalent currents.