Effects of Different Post-Treatments on Arc Erosion Resistance of Cold-Sprayed AgC Composite Electric Contact

Graphite-silver (AgC) composite materials are widely used in outdoor high-voltage electrical switchgear due to their combining properties of excellent conductivity and outstanding arc-suppressing performance. However, the methods for fabricating AgC composite materials still have some limitations. In this study, the cold spray technique was adopted to deposit AgC composite coatings with the optimized parameters on the copper substrate. Then, AgC coatings were annealed in the furnace and treated by laser scanning, respectively, to further improve the arc erosion resistance performance of the coatings. The results show that the phase structure and electrical resistance of AgC coatings were not influenced by the post-treatment process. Furthermore, excellent hydrophobic performance was obtained after surface laser scanning treatment. The laser scanning treatment exhibited favorable advantages in enhancing the arc erosion resistance of AgC coatings, which indicated the lowest arc erosion rate compared with the cold-sprayed and annealed coatings.