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Fretting corrosion is the name for a buildup of insulating, oxidized wear debris that can form when there is small amplitude fretting motion between electrical contacts. If you work with automotive terminals, you may have heard folks talking about fretting corrosion.
Fretting corrosion is a type of motion-induced corrosion that results in a build-up of oxidized wear and debris when metallic surfaces in contact with each other are subjected to small (in the order of a few tens of microns) repetitive motions.
Our interest is in the phenomena known as Fretting Corrosion (and fretting motion, the driving force behind fretting corrosion). How is this different from normal plain old wear? The big difference is that fretting is a micro-motion issue typically less than 0.005” of movement.
Fretting corrosion is the result of micromotion caused by vibration and/or thermal expansion due to heating or cooling cycles. These micromovements wear down through the metal coatings into the base material that then becomes oxidized.
Fretting is a phenomenon that causes damage when metal surfaces come into contact through repeated rubbing or cyclic sliding motion. The friction-induced damage from fretting results in material transfer and corrosion, leading to mechanical wear.
What is fretting corrosion? The symptoms are often thought of as ‘gremlins’ in the circuitry. In automotive and passenger cars, an engine management warning light appearing on the the dashboard can be the result of open circuit resistance, caused by fretting corrosion.
fretting corrosion on a male blade terminal. In less severe cases, fretting corrosion is hard to see, so we have to use some special laboratory equipment to identify it. HOW CAN WE PREVENT FRETTING CORROSION? Our terminals and connectors are designed to resist fretting corrosion, but here are some general pointers
Fretting corrosion is a surface damage phenomenon that is caused by small cyclic movements between two materials combined with corrosive attack from the environment. Cyclic amplitudes can be as small as 3 to 4 nm.
There are various conditions that can result in open circuits or high resistance. Poorly crimped terminals, damaged wires, corrosion and hard to see microscopic level oxidation. The latter is associated with the term "terminal fretting" and has become a trendy "buzzword" of late. Here's links to a couple of articles on the condition.
TERMINAL FRETTING. The accumulation of an oxidized debris referred to as terminal fretting corrosion may occur between two electrical contact surfaces within an electrical connector. This condition occurs due to poor terminal retention/poor connection, vibration and thermal cycling.