Fabrication and Validation of Electrical Components Produced From Covetic Materials

Covetic materials are a class of metal-carbon composites whose electrical and thermal conductivity are reported to be up to 40-50% higher than pure metals or alloys. Although covetic materials have been produced from a number of metals including copper, silver and aluminum, their enhanced electrical and thermal conductivities have not yet been demonstrated in real world applications. NAECO, LLC proposes to fabricate electrical contact assemblies, which are key components of electromechanical switches used the aerospace industry, from covetic copper. Once the electrical contact assemblies have been fabricated and their electrical and thermal conductivities verified, they will be bench-tested under realistic electrical loads. The performance of the assemblies made from covetic copper will be compared to ones made with standard copper. NAECO will first analyze the physical, metallurgical and electrical properties of the sourced covetic material. If these properties are not sufficient to fabricate an electrical contact assembly substrate, NAECO will perform metallurgical processing to improve the covetic copper’s density, homogeneity, or remove contaminants. The covetic material will then be fabricated into prototype electrical contact assemblies. A full contact assembly made from covetic copper will be tested to determine whether it can carry more amperage for the same mass of conductor, while also increasing the heat transfer from key areas of the assembly. Finally, NAECO will incorporate contact assemblies made from covetic copper into a customer’s electromechanical switch configuration and then compare its performance to one made from standard copper.Covetic materials with higher electrical and thermal conductivity could replace copper and aluminum in many high-voltage electrical power distribution applications and reduce electrical losses in long distance power transmission systems. In addition, covetic materials could enable significant reductions in the size and weight of conductors in both AC and DC systems used in ground transportation and aerospace applications, giving US electrical device manufacturers a competitive advantage. Finally, the higher thermal conductivity of covetic materials could greatly reduce the weight of heat exchangers and heat sinks, reducing energy losses and enabling miniaturization across a wide variety of mechanical and electronic devices.