Mating, unmating and endurance force testing of rectangular electrical connectors

Mating, unmating and endurance force testing of rectangular, wired electrical connectors can be automated using an LFPlus single column universal materials tester from Lloyd Instruments. The test procedure, which has been reported by Hemetek Techno Instruments, Lloyd Instruments’ distributor in India, is in full compliance with the European Space Agency ESA/SCC Generic Specification No. 3401 for rectangular and circular non-filtered electrical connectors.

Tests are carried out on the LFPlus machine equipped with a special test jig to hold the connectors. Mating and unmating forces are measured during a cycle of 4 matings and disconnections. The force is applied gradually and distributed equally about the connector. The mating and unmating force measurements are recorded on the first and last cycles.

For the endurance tests, the wired connector sets are subjected to between 100 and 500 complete mating and unmating cycles, with the forces applied by the LFPlus simulating a coupling and decoupling that would occur in actual service. The mating/unmating speed must not exceed 5 mm/second with a maximum cycle rate of 8 cycles/minute. The male and female connectors are completely separated during each cycle. The connectors are visually examined at the end of the test and should show no evidence of physical damage except for contact wear.

The versatile LFPlus can test for tensile strength, compression, flexural strength, coefficient of friction, tear strength, peel strength, adhesion, shear strength, ductility and many other parameters to determine the mechanical properties and performance of materials and finished components. It can be supplied with NEXYGENPlus control and analysis software featuring an extensive library of pre-defined test set-ups based on international standards as well as the capability to set up routine tests or create an advanced multi-stage test.