Abstract: Excessive or inadequate contact force of electrical connector may result in unsmooth insertion-extraction and excessive contact resistance and further cause contact failure.In order to improve the contact reliability of electrical connectors,the insertion-extraction and temperature rise properties of an electrical connector were discussed.In the investigation,first,the insertion-extraction force and temperature rise of the contactor were simulated by using ABAQUS.Then,the effect of clearance between spring and support frame δ and angle of spring tongue α on the insertion-extraction force,as well as the influence of wire's cross-sectional area S and current on the temperature rise were revealed.Finally,the variations of insertion-extraction force and temperature rise were measured by experiments.The results show that ( 1) when δ = 0. 12mm,the insertion-extraction force increases with the increase of α; while when δ = 0. 18mm,the insertion-extraction force first increases and then decreases with the increase of α; ( 2) when α is constant,the insertion-extraction force decreases with the increase of δ; ( 3) the temperature rise of the contactor increases with the increase of current,but decreases with the increase of wire's cross-sectional area; and ( 4) the insertion-extraction force and temperature rise obtained by experiments are consistent with those obtained by simulation.Comprehensively considering the insertion-extraction force and temperature rise,the optimal parameters for the connector are suggested as δ = 0. 12mm and α = 15°.

Key words: electrical connector, contact resistance, insertion-extraction force, temperature rise, finite element simulation