Accounting for nearly 8% of the 4.2 V operating voltage in aluminum reduction cellsAluminum reduction cell, the electrical contact resistance (ECR) at the cast ironIron/carbonCarbon interface (CCI) is a primary contributor to the cathode voltage dropCathode Voltage Drop (CVD). ECR is influenced by temperature but also, by the contact pressureContact pressure which highly depends on the initial air-gap formed at the CCI during cathode rodding. During start-up and operation, thermo-mechanical deformations in the cathode assemblyCathode assembly’s components alter the CCI, reducing contact pressureContact pressure which decrease ECR. This study combines experimental and numerical approaches to investigate the impact of this evolution. The initial air-gap distribution, determined using 3D scanning and previously published, and the thermo-mechanical behavior of the metallic components of the cathode assemblyCathode assembly including creep mechanism, experimentally characterized, are integrated in a thermo-electro-mechanical (TEM) finite elementFinite element model developed in ANSYS™ software to study the behavior of the cathode assemblyCathode assembly during operation. Details of experimental characterizationCharacterization are not included in this paper. Results show that creep deformations account for approximately 19% of the total cathode voltage dropCathode Voltage Drop (CVD) as reported on operational reduction cellsReduction cell.