Research on the Mechanism of Intermittent Failure of Electrical Connectors in Marine Environments

In this paper, the surface damage morphology and element composition of connectors with outfield faults used in typical naval equipment are studied and analyzed, and the main types of environmental stress causing the intermittent faults of connectors are determined. According to the damage structure characteristics of the faulty parts in the external field, an accelerated simulated test profile consisting of plugging-corrosion-vibration was designed to study the intermittent fault mechanism of the connector, and the fault recurrence was successfully carried out. Through the study of this paper, it is concluded that the main cause of intermittent connector failure in the actual use of external field is the fretting wear of the micro-structure of the contact in the vibration environment, and the insertion and removal action and corrosive environment are the significant stresses that accelerate the surface damage of the micro-structure of the contact. Insertion, corrosion and vibration stress can cause different forms of damage on the electrical contact surface. Under the synergistic and superposition effect of several damage effects, the uneven damage of the connector's electrical contact micro-structure will be significantly accelerated, resulting in the connector's intermittent fault sensitivity.