PAPER
P35193
Order No~ SS76'1
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Connector Design/Materials
and
Connector Reliability
by:
Robert S. Mroczkowski
INTRODUCTION
Connector reliability has taken on new significance
as electronics, especially computers and telecommunications equipment, become more important in
both business and everyday life. The reliability of a
connector depends on two factors. First, the
application, which determines the requirements both environmental and functional - which the
connector must meet. And, second, the design and
materials of manufacture of the connector, which
determine the degradation mechanisms. This paper
will provide an overview of how these two factors
interact to determine connector reliability in todays
electronics equipment.
To provide a perspective on connector reliability
some field history will be reviewed and a laboratory
approach to estimating connector reliability will be
proposed.
Connector Structure
Figure 1 provides a schematic illustration of a connector.
Every connector includes:
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CONNECTOR OVERVIEW
The discussion begins with a simple question.
What Is a Connector?
The insets in the figure illustrate the contact finish and the
structure of the separable interface on a microscopic level.
A brief description of each of these connector components
is in order.
Connector Function
Connector Resistance
To complete this brief overview of connector structure
consider the sources of resistance in a connector.
As indicated in Figure 3, the connector resistance consists
Of:
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Corrosion
Wear
surface corrosion,
pore corrosion.
Figure 4 shows the effects of the mixed flowing gas environment on the gold/nickel sample, the curves shown are
the average of nine individual probe readings. The test environment results in significant degradation in contact resistance in 48 hours despite the fact that gold is inert to the
gases in the test environment. The effects of the corrosion
processes on contact resistance can be understood from consideration of Figures 5 through 10.
Wear
Summary
of Normal Force
Equations 1 and 3 provide a means for understanding the
two major mechanisms leading to loss of normal force,
permanent set and stress relaxation.
Permanent Set - Permanent set refers to a permanent
deflection of the contact beam due to overstressing the
beam. Equation 1 illustrates the importance of permanent
set as a mechanism for degradation of normal force.
Normal force varies directly with deflection. A set in the
spring will decrease the deflection and, therefore, the
normal force.
towards preventing corrosion from elsewhere in the connector from reaching the contact interface. Pore corrosion and
corrosion from exposed base metal at stamped edges are of
particular concern. Corrosion of precious metal finished
connectors has been observed. Its effects depend on the
operating environment, especially with respect to sulfur and
chlorine. Shielding by the housing moderates the potential
for corrosion.
For tin finishes, the major degradation mechanism is fretting corrosion which can occur in any operating environment. The major factor in fretting corrosion is the driving
force for fretting motions. Differential thermal expansion is
the most common driver. Connector design to minimize
fretting susceptibility centers around high normal forces to
provide sufficient friction force at the contact interface to
prevent motion from occurring. Contact lubricants are also
available to reduce oxidation susceptibility.
The Contact Spring
From a connector degradation viewpoint, the major spring
material selection criterion is stress relaxation resistance.
Loss of normal force through plastic deformation is predominantly a design exercise to ensure that spring stresses
are not excessive. The variation in yield strength for the
commonly use copper alloys is a secondary factor in this
regard. Stress relaxation resistance, however, does vary
significantly across the copper alloy range. Beryllium
copper is the most commonly used alloy when stress relaxation is a major concern. Brasses should be avoided and
phosphor bronzes are suitable for most applications.
CONNECTOR APPLICATIONS/FUNCTIONS
Connector applications and functions are two ways to
describe how connectors are used. Connector applications
will be described in terms of the subsystems which are
Connector Applications:
Levels of Packaging
Level 3
Level 3 interconnections are the first level at which
separable connectors appear. Advances in microelectronics
technology have led to high performance, high I/O printed
circuit boards which lead to the following requirements on
level 3 connectors:
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Level 4
Level 4 interconnections are characterized by a large variety
of connector types and often include cables. Requirements
for level 4 connectors include:
Level
Level 5 interconnections are the connections to the outside
world, I/O connectors. They share many of the requirements
of level 4 with a few additional.
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Level
The variety of level 6 interconnections is also large and
includes cabling. Many of the level 4 and 5 requirements
remain important.
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Connector Function:
Signal and Power Distribution
CONNECTOR RELIABILITY:
FIELD AND LABORATORY
These comments are sufficient to provide a context for connector applications and indicate the variety of requirements
connectors must meet. Attention now turns to connector
function.
Failure Criteria:
What is the appropriate value of contact resistance to use in
establishing contact reliability? There are two possibilities,
the product specification value, which is somewhat generic,
and an application related value.
Fundamentally, the product specification contact resistance
is not the proper choice. This value has a reliability aspect
to it in the sense that the manufacturer has tested the
PRODUCT DESIGN with respect to ensuring that the
specified contact resistance maximum will be maintained in
its intended RANGE OF APPLICATIONS. In this respect,
the product specification value includes a safety factor to
account for the range of possible applications for the
connector.
In a particular application, on the other hand, a user will
have established a value of contact resistance at which the
system of interest will cease to function. The value may be
100 milliohms, or more, in a signal application or 0.5
milliohm, or less, for a power contact. The failure criterion for contact resistance should be based on this application
specific value and not the product specification contact
resistance. The desired requirements on confidence limit
and reliability should then be applied with this resistance
value as the upper limit of acceptability.
Many of the issues concerning statistical treatment of the
data obtained from individual contacts are straightforward.
Relating contact data to connector performance does,
however, raise some issues. For example, the contact data
are obtained on contacts in a particular connector. The data,
therefore, are influenced by the connector. How this
influence is to be quantified or included in the connector
reliability calculation merits attention.
Summary
The purpose of this discussion was to present some of the
issues and considerations which are pertinent to determining
and calculating connector reliability via a laboratory testing
program. A reliability evaluation program consists of the
following steps:
1. Determine an application specific contact
resistance acceptance criterion. A criterion will
also be required for any other failure mode which
is to be included in the evaluation program.
2. Develop a test program to address the expected
degradation mechanisms operative in the
application. Ranking of failure modes may be
considered in this process.
3. Derive acceleration factors, when possible, for the
tests to be specified. When this cannot be done no
reliability prediction can be made. In such cases
only comparative performance capabilities can be
provided.
4. Decide on the statistical treatment appropriate to the
data generated in the evaluation program.
5. Calculate the component reliability.
CONCLUSION
This paper has reviewed some of the interactions between
connector materials/design and application environments
and requirements as they impact connector reliability.
Approaches to evaluating or estimating connector reliability
have been discussed. Reliability estimation for intrinsic
degradation mechanisms is feasible, within limits, but
extrinsic degradation mechanisms cannot be accounted for
in a laboratory environment.
To achieve the highest reliability in a connector, the
intrinsic connector reliability, determined by connector
design/materials selection, must be preserved by conscientious attention to connector specifications, to ensure operation of the connector within its designed area of application,
and avoidance of extrinsic degradation processes such as
contamination in assembly and application. Connectors can
be designed to resist, but not totally eliminate susceptibility
to, such degradation.
REFERENCES
1. Williamson, J.B.P., The Microworld of the Contact
Spot, Proc. 27th Ann. Holm Conference on Electric
Contacts, 1981.
2. Mroczkowski, R.S., Connector Contact Surfaces:
Where the Action Is, Presented at Indicon, 1983.
3. Abbott, W.H., The Corrosion of Porous Gold Platings
in Field and Laboratory Environments, Proc. 13th
International Conference on Electric Contact
Phenomena, 1986.
4. Mroczkowski, R.S., Corrosion and Electrical Contact
Interfaces, Paper #328, NACE, Corrosion 85, 1985.
5. Mroczkowski, R.S., Materials Considerations in
Connector Design, Proc. 1st Electronic Materials and
Processing Conf., American Society for Materials, 1988.
6. Rabinowitz, E., Friction and Wear of Materials, John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1965.
7. Antler, M., and Drozdowicz, M.H., Wear of Gold
Electrodeposits: Effect of Substrate and of Nickel
Underplate, Proc. 9th International Conference on
Electric Contact Phenomena, 1978.
8. Antler, M., Wear of Contact Finishes: Mechanisms,
Modelling, and Recent Studies of the Importance of
Topography, Underplate and Lubricants, Proc. 11th
A M . Connections and Interconnection Technology
Symposium, 1978.
9. Whitley, J.H., and Mroczkowski, R.S., Concerning
Normal Force Requirements for Precious Metal Plated
Contacts, Proc. 20th. Ann. Connections and
Interconnection Technology Symposium, 1987.
10. Bersett, T.E., Back to Basics: Properties of Copper
Alloy Strip for Contacts and Terminals, Proc. 14th
Am. Connections and Interconnection Technology
Symposium, 1982.
11. Horn, K. W., and Zarlingo, S.P., Understanding
Stress Relaxation in copper Alloys, Proc 15th Ann.
Connections and Interconnection Technology
Symposium, 1983.
12. Granitz, R.G., Levels of Packaging, Instruments and
Control Systems, August, 1992.
13. Corman, N.E. and Mroczkowski, R.S., Fundamentals
of Power Contacts/Connectors, Proc. 23d Ann.
Connections and Interconnection Technology
Symposium, 1990.
14. Grau, T.G., A Field Study of the Electrical
Performance of Separable Connectors, Proc. 28th.
Elec. Comp. Conf. 1978.
15. Yager, T.A., and Nixon, K., A Field Study of
Connector Reliability, IEEE Trans. CHMT, Vol. 7,
No. 4, 1984.
16. Mroczkowski, R.S. and Maynard, J.M., Estimating
Connector Reliability, IEEE Trans. on Reliability,
1991.