Question

Design the contacts for a switch or relay that opens and closes a high-current electrical circuit.

NB: use suitable material i.e silver alloys

Answer 1

Electrical Relays can also be divided into mechanical action relays called “Electromechanical Relays” and those which use semiconductor transistors, thyristors, triacs, etc, as their switching device called “Solid State Relays” or SSR’s.The Electromechanical Relay

The term Relay generally refers to a device that provides an electrical connection between two or more points in response to the application of a control signal. The most common and widely used type of electrical relay is the electromechanical relay or EMR.The most fundamental control of any equipment is the ability to turn it “ON” and “OFF”. The easiest way to do this is using switches to interrupt the electrical supply. Although switches can be used to control something, they have their disadvantages. The biggest one is that they have to be manually (physically) turned “ON” or “OFF”. Also, they are relatively large, slow and only switch small electrical currents.

Electrical Relays however, are basically electrically operated switches that come in many shapes, sizes and power ratings suitable for all types of applications. Relays can also have single or multiple contacts within a single package with the larger power relays used for mains voltage or high current switching applications being called “Contactors”.

In this tutorial about electrical relays we are just concerned with the fundamental operating principles of “light duty” electromechanical relays we can use in motor control or robotic circuits. Such relays are used in general electrical and electronic control or switching circuits either mounted directly onto PCB boards or connected free standing and in which the load currents are normally fractions of an ampere up to 20+ amperes. The relay circuit are common in Electronics applications.

As their name implies, electromechanical relays are electro-magnetic devices that convert a magnetic flux generated by the application of a low voltage electrical control signal either AC or DC across the relay terminals, into a pulling mechanical force which operates the electrical contacts within the relay. The most common form of electromechanical relay consist of an energizing coil called the “primary circuit” wound around a permeable iron core.

This iron core has both a fixed portion called the yoke, and a moveable spring loaded part called the armature, that completes the magnetic field circuit by closing the air gap between the fixed electrical coil and the moveable armature. The armature is hinged or pivoted allowing it to freely move within the generated magnetic field closing the electrical contacts that are attached to it. Connected between the yoke and armature is normally a spring (or springs) for the return stroke to “reset” the contacts back to their initial rest position when the relay coil is in the “de-energized” condition, i.e. turned “OFF”.

Electromechanical Relay Construction

In our simple relay above, we have two sets of electrically conductive contacts. Relays may be “Normally Open”, or “Normally Closed”. One pair of contacts are classed as Normally Open, (NO) or make contacts and another set which are classed as Normally Closed, (NC) or break contacts. In the normally open position, the contacts are closed only when the field current is “ON” and the switch contacts are pulled towards the inductive coil.

In the normally closed position, the contacts are permanently closed when the field current is “OFF” as the switch contacts return to their normal position. These terms Normally Open, Normally Closed or Make and Break Contacts refer to the state of the electrical contacts when the relay coil is “de-energized”, i.e, no supply voltage connected to the relay coil. Contact elements may be of single or double make or break designs. An example of this arrangement is given below.

The relays contacts are electrically conductive pieces of metal which touch together completing a circuit and allow the circuit current to flow, just like a switch. When the contacts are open the resistance between the contacts is very high in the Mega-Ohms, producing an open circuit condition and no circuit current flows.

When the contacts are closed the contact resistance should be zero, a short circuit, but this is not always the case. All relay contacts have a certain amount of “contact resistance” when they are closed and this is called the “On-Resistance”, similar to FET’s.

With a new relay and contacts this ON-resistance will be very small, generally less than 0.2?because the tips are new and clean, but over time the tip resistance will increase.

For example. If the contacts are passing a load current of say 10A, then the voltage drop across the contacts using Ohms Law is 0.2 x 10 = 2 volts, which if the supply voltage is say 12 volts then the load voltage will be only 10 volts (12 – 2). As the contact tips begin to wear, and if they are not properly protected from high inductive or capacitive loads, they will start to show signs of arcing damage as the circuit current still wants to flow as the contacts begin to open when the relay coil is de-energized.

This arcing or sparking across the contacts will cause the contact resistance of the tips to increase further as the contact tips become damaged. If allowed to continue the contact tips may become so burnt and damaged to the point were they are physically closed but do not pass any or very little current.

If this arcing damage becomes to severe the contacts will eventually “weld” together producing a short circuit condition and possible damage to the circuit they are controlling. If now the contact resistance has increased due to arcing to say 1? the volt drop across the contacts for the same load current increases to 1 x 10 = 10 volts dc. This high voltage drop across the contacts may be unacceptable for the load circuit especially if operating at 12 or even 24 volts, then the faulty relay will have to be replaced.

To reduce the effects of contact arcing and high “On-resistances”, modern contact tips are made of, or coated with, a variety of silver based alloys to extend their life span as given in the following table.

Electrical Relay Contact Tip Materials

Ag (fine silver)

1. Electrical and thermal conductivity are the highest of all the metals.
2. Exhibits low contact resistance, is inexpensive and widely used.
3. Contacts tarnish easily through sulphurisation influence.

AgCu (silver copper)

1. Known as “Hard silver” contacts and have better wear resistance and less tendency to arc and weld, but slightly higher contact resistance.

AgCdO (silver cadmium oxide)

1. Very little tendency to arc and weld, good wear resistance and arc extinguishing properties.

AgW (silver tungsten)

1. Hardness and melting point are high, arc resistance is excellent.
2. Not a precious metal.
3. High contact pressure is required to reduce resistance.
4. Contact resistance is relatively high, and resistance to corrosion is poor.

AgNi (silver nickel)

1. Equals the electrical conductivity of silver, excellent arc resistance.

AgPd (silver palladium)

1. Low contact wear, greater hardness.
2. Expensive.

Platinum, Gold and Silver Alloys

1. Excellent corrosion resistance, used mainly for low-current circuits.

Relay manufacturers data sheets give maximum contact ratings for resistive DC loads only and this rating is greatly reduced for either AC loads or highly inductive or capacitive loads. In order to achieve long life and high reliability when switching alternating currents with inductive or capacitive loads some form of arc suppression or filtering is required across the relay contacts.

Extending the life of relay tips by reducing the amount of arcing generated as they open is achieved by connecting a Resistor-Capacitor network called an RC Snubber Networkelectrically in parallel with an electrical relay contact tips. The voltage peak, which occurs at the instant the contacts open, will be safely short circuited by the RC network, thus suppressing any arc generated at the contact tips.