The EMPF recently cooperated with a large defense original equipment manufacturer (OEM) company on a Navy ManTech project for characterization of two new interconnection technologies that were developed by and have been introduced into commercial electronics. The purpose of the EMPF investigation was to evaluate the potential adoption of either or both of these commercial technologies into Navy electronic systems. These two current-enhanced interconnection technologies are based on the multiplication of electrical contact points in the pin-and-socket contact pair that lower the contact resistance of each such pair and thereby lowers the ohmic heating of each mated pair. The result is the enhanced ability of each of these enhanced lower resistance contact pairs in a given connector to conduct a higher electrical current than possible with conventional three or four point contact arrangement for a given temperature rise in the contact.

The first of these is the “Tribotek technology,” shown in Figure 3-1, whereby gold plated copper wire and Kevlar aramid fiber are woven together. The resultant fabric lines the electrical socket contact such that each “knuckle” of the weave provides one electrical contact to the inserted pin. The Kevlar fiber is placed under tension by an added mechanical spring, which supplies the normal force for each contact.

The second of these is the “Bal Seal technology,” shown in Figure 3-2. Toroidal springs (made by Bal Seal, Inc.) are inserted into the socket contacts, thereby providing one pin contact for each coil of the spring. Several springs can then be utilized in each socket so that there are hundreds of contacts at each pin-socket pair. Just like in the Tribotek case, the multiple contacts at each mated pin-socket pair drastically reduces the total electrical resistance of the pin to the socket. This drastically reduces the resistive heating of the contact and the connector as a whole will be capable of carrying vastly more electrical current than the conventional connector having two or three contact pin-socket mated pairs.