Pforzheim, Germany – AMI DODUCO, a Technitrol(NYSE:TNL)company presented three publications on contact technology at the 20th VDE Albert-Keil-Contact Conference which took place from October 6 – 9, 2009 in Karlsruhe. Some 170 engineers and technicians attended this conference in order to keep up to date with the latest developments in electrical contacts for power as well as signal distribution.

In the area of contact materials, Dr. Volker Behrens, Director R&D Materials and Techn. Consulting at AMI DODUCO, gave a paper on “Contact Materials for Low-voltage Switching Contacts”. In recent years the increasing demands being placed on electrical contacts in switchgear, the economical use of precious metals, and the requirement to use environmentally friendly materials have dominated the development of materials for electrical contacts. This paper dealt with fundamental aspects of contact physics and gave an overview of manufacturing processes, switching characteristics, testing and typical applications for contact materials in low-voltage power engineering.

In the light of the increasingly stringent demands relating to a variety of applications such as automotive relays (DC) and appliance and installation switches (AC), AMI DODUCO presented improved silver/tin oxide contact materials. Oliver Lutz, Application Engineer and member of the mill products sales force at AMI DODUCO presented a publication prepared jointly with Tyco Electronics AMP, Berlin and Marquardt GmbH, Rietheim-Weilheim, entitled “Silver/tin Oxide On the Basis of Internal Oxidation for AC and DC Applications”. In these applications, especially in the case of inductive and capacitive loads, an improved, internally oxidized silver/tin oxide 88/12 with added indium oxide (In2O3) has proven to be an effective material which fulfils many new requirements being placed on relays in automobiles and appliance and installation switches.

On the background of higher precious metal prices, AMI DODUCO is investigating to what extent gold used as a contact material can be replaced by silver plating in signal applications for the IT industry. The company has examined the mechanisms by which silver sulfides form on technical silver substrates and what effects they have on contact properties. Wolfgang Schmitt, Application Engineer and member of the Electroplating Sales Team at AMI DODUCO, presented the results of these studies in a paper entitled "The Impact of the Manufacturing Process on the Corrosion and Contact Characteristics of Silver Substrates in a Sulfurous Environment." The lively discussion which followed this paper reinforces the company’s intention to extend this study and to provide new impetus for cost reductions and precious metal savings.

Parallel to these papers, AMI DODUCO presented products and manufacturing technologies on an exhibition stand, whereby the presentation of the newly published “Electrical Contacts Data Book” met with considerable interest.