Contents

1 Contactor theory........................................................................................................................... 2

2 Auxiliary contacts ........................................................................................................................ 3

3 Arcing properties and application of contactor ............................................................................ 5

3.1 Arcing properties ................................................................................................................... 5

3.2 Application of contactor ........................................................................................................ 6

4 Contactor coil design ................................................................................................................... 7

4.1 Calculating the number of turns ............................................................................................ 7

4.2 Force produce in the electromagnetic contactor ................................................................... 9

4.3 Wire size measurement using American Wire Gauge (AWG) ........................................... 11

5. Production lines for contactor .................................................................................................. 13

6 Machines, standard material and raw materials used for contactor production ......................... 14

6.1Machines .............................................................................................................................. 15

6.2 Raw materials required........................................................................................................ 18

7 Testing materials and testing mechanism for contactor ............................................................. 18

7.1 Testing materials needed ..................................................................................................... 18

7.2 Testing mechanism .............................................................................................................. 18

8. Measuring device contactor coil ............................................................................................... 19

9 layout of the plant…………………...…………………………………………………………19

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1. Contactor theory

Definition: -Contactors are electromechanical switches employed in applications that require

processes of electric circuit “making and breaking”, such as starter motors, electric vehicles,
heaters, and lighting applications .A contactor is an electrically controlled switch (relay) used for
switching an electrical power circuit. It is typically controlled by a circuit which has a much
lower power level than the switched circuit, such as a 24-volt coil electromagnet controlling a
220-volt motor switch. Contactors come in many forms with varying capacities and features.
Contactors range from those having a breaking current of several amperes to thousands of
amperes and 24 V DC to many kilovolts. This is mechanical switching devices whose operation
is controlled by an electromagnet. The electromagnet consists of a coil of wire with many turns
wound on to an iron core.
Components: -Electromechanical contactors contain three major components: the metallic
contacts, the electromagnet, and the enclosure. The contacts are the current carrying part of the
contactor, and are used to switch large amount of electric power, particularly the power
consumption of electric motors. The electromagnet produces the magnetic force required to bring
together the movable and fixed sections of the magnetic core. The enclosure is a frame made of
insulating material that houses the electromagnet and the set of metallic contacts. The
electromagnet usually contains a coil input which may be driven by either, an AC or DC supply.
Over 80% of electromechanical contactors used in industries worldwide are equipped with AC
powered coils.
Working principle: -When the coil of the electromagnet is energized, the core becomes
magnetized and attracts a moving armature. The armature is mechanically coupled to a set of
electrical contacts. When the armature is attracted to the electromagnet, these contacts operate
and complete the circuit. As soon as the coil is de-energized, the contacts return to normal,
usually under spring. When the coil is de-energized, the force of gravity or spring tension
releases the plunger from the magnet body, causing the electrical contacts to return to their
original state. Contactors are energy conversion devices wherein input electrical energy in the
form of voltage and current is converted into magnetic energy. Before the closure process, the
magnetic force necessary to produce mechanical motion is mainly provided by the useful or
force-producing magnetic flux that crosses the air-gap regions that separate the movable and
fixed sections of the core. The contactor’s electromagnet consists of a single coil wound around

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the central limb of the lower or stationary portion of the double-E laminated core. The contact
between the two magnetized portions of the E-shaped magnetic cores is, in fact, restricted to
small regions located at the side limbs.
In a well-designed AC contactor, the magnetic force should never drop below the mechanical
forces created by the restoring springs. The design and manufacture of electromechanical devices
is a highly specialized process subject to many requirements due to the interconnected nature of
the electrical, mechanical and thermal designs.

Figure 1.1E-shaped magnetic contactor core

Figure 1.2 line and load terminal of contactor

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 Figure 1.3 contactor coil

Figure 1.4 plastic molds with connector terminal

4
 Figure 1.5 contactor cores, return spring with plastic molds

2. Auxiliary contacts

The auxiliary contact blocks are used for the operation of auxiliary circuits and control circuits
for standard industrial environments. The auxiliary contact blocks are equipped with screw type
connecting terminals delivered open, protected against accidental direct contact and bear the
corresponding function marking. Auxiliary contacts can be fitted to the top or to the sides of
most contactors. The lowest contact is an “auxiliary” contact which has a current rating much
lower than that of the large motor power contacts. They are used for low currents signals;
manufactured with suitable contacts, they ensure goods performances in reliability and
continuity.

3 Arcing properties and application of contactor

3.1 Arcing properties

Arcing is an electric current that is brief, strong and highly luminous.An electric arc, or arc
discharge, is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces an ongoing plasma discharge,
resulting from a current through normally nonconductive media such as air. An arc discharge is
5
characterized by a lower voltage than a glow discharge, and relies on thermionic emission of
electrons from the electrodes supporting the arc. Arcing is really electricity flowing in the air
between two points of conductors. The two point electrodes are termed as electrodes cathode and
anode depending on positive polarity and negative polarity. When the air ionized usually is
electrical voltages being higher than the gap of the air withstand the air between then ionized and
conducting current which is the arc. There are two methods of extinguishing the arc in circuit
breakers which are namely,

a) High resistance method: - Interruption is obtained by increasing the resistance of the arc.
This will reduce the current to such a value which will be insufficient to maintain the arc thus the
current is interrupted and the arc is extinguished. This method is employed in only d.c circuit.

b) Low resistance or current zero method: - Used for A.C. Circuit breakers the arc is interrupted
at a current zero. At current zero, the space between contacts is deionizer quickly by introducing
fresh unionizes medium such as oil or fresh air, or SF6 gas between the contacts. The dielectric
strength of the contact space increases to such extant that the arc does not continue after current
zero. A high voltage may appear across the contacts. This voltage may re-establish the arc if the
dielectric strength of gap is less than restriking voltage. In that case the arc continues for another
half cycle and may extinguish at next current zero. Type of Arc quenching mechanism that the
contactor mostly preferable is Low resistance because most contactors are ac type. Generally the
type of contactor we want to manufacture electrical contractor types A line series and three phase
ac. The choice of contactor is based on many factors:

Type of the load supplied (Motor, Heating, Lighting)

Nominal current of the load,
Operating voltage,
Number of operations

3.2 Types and Application of contactor

In electrical engineering utilization categories are defined by IEC standards and indicate the type
of electrical load and duty cycle of the loads to ease selection of contactors and relays. Electrical
Contractors are categorized according to the current making and breaking values for contactors.
The difference between the contactor listed below is based on their application.

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AC-1 Non-inductive or slightly inductive loads, example: resistive furnaces, heaters

AC-2 Slip-ring motors: switching off

AC-3 Squirrel-cage motors: starting, switches off motors during running time

AC-4 Squirrel-cage motors: starting, plugging, inching

AC-5a Switching of discharge lamps

AC-5b Switching of incandescent lamps

AC-6a Switching of transformers

AC-23 Switching of motor loads or other highly inductive loads

4. Contactor coil design

4.1 Calculating the number of turns
The number of turns in the contactor coil depends upon the cross-section of a core of the
contactor on which it is mounted .If the core cross-section of the contactor is known, the number
of turns per volt depending upon coil duty of the contactor can be calculated as follow

Core cross-section of the contactor C=A X B in cm2

A=core length in cm and B=core width in cm
A=160mm=1.6cm and B=100mm=1cm then C=1.6cm*1cm=1.6cm2 is it like example

The core cross-section of a contactor coil to be designed for continuous duty is 1.6cm2, the
number of turns per volt depending upon coil duty.

Figure 4.1 core of contactor

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Number of turns per volt of 1.6cm2 continuous duty is 22turn/volt

Therefore the total number of turns in the contactor is

N =operating voltage X number of turns per volt
For 220V operating voltage, therefore, N=220X22= 4840turns

For three phase operating voltage N=380X22=8360turns

For the core cross-section of an apparatus coil to be designed for continuous duty is 2.9 cm2; the
number of turns per volt depending upon coil duty is 12 turns per volt. Therefore mathematically
by considering the above two sample value of cross section and turns per volt. The values are
(1.6, 22) and (2.9, 12) therefore the slope of this point is -100/13.then the mathematical equation
is express as shown below.

Turn/volt= (-100 C+446) where C is cross section of the core.

N =operating voltage X Turns per volt

Figure 4.2 graph of contactor design

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Table 1 sample value for contactor design parameter value

Cross
Number of turns Number of turns for
sectional Turn per volt
for 220volt 380volt
area in cm2
0.1
33.53846154 7378.461538 12744.61538
0.2
32.76923077 7209.230769 12452.30769
0.4
31.23076923 6870.769231 11867.69231
0.9
27.38461538 6024.615385 10406.15385
1
26.61538462 5855.384615 10113.84615
1.1
25.84615385 5686.153846 9821.538462
1.5
22.76923077 5009.230769 8652.307692
1.6
22 4840 8360
1.9
19.69230769 4332.307692 7483.076923
2.1
18.15384615 3993.846154 6898.461538
2.3
16.61538462 3655.384615 6313.846154
2.9
12 2640 4560
3.1
10.46153846 2301.538462 3975.384615
3.6
6.615384615 1455.384615 2513.846154
4
3.538461538 778.4615385 1344.615385
4.3
1.230769231 270.7692308 467.6923077

4.2 Force produce in the electromagnetic contactor.

In fact, the mechanism of contactor is really equivalent to a mass-spring-damp system. Therefore
the dynamic behaviors of the mechanical part can be naturally represented by a second order
ordinary differential equation and like as follows.

Fe =B +kx……………………………………………………..1

Most of the working time of the contactor, the viscous coefficient B is small, so that it is
reasonable if it is ignored in our research work. For brevity, the spring tension term, which acts

9
on the movable part, is defined as Ff here. The external voltage source u (t) supplies to the
electric energy over a time interval dt. By Kirchhoff’s voltage law and work-energy principle

3
Where, the symbol, λ, represents the flux linkage of contactor coil. As we known, the external
voltage source u(t) equals the number of windings of coil N times the derivative of flux with
respect to time, that is N(dφ /dt) . Substitute u (t) into (3) we obtain
4

Where we is electrical energy the system. When the electromagnetic force Fe produced by the
magnetic circuit imposed upon the armature and larger than the spring anti-force, the armature
certainly begins moving forward the fixed iron core and the displacement is assumed to be dx.
The differential work done on the armature by the mechanical system can be given as follows
5

Where Wm is mechanical energy of the system

During the closing process, the amount of the flux in the magnetic circuit and the coil-current
value are almost not affected. This phenomenon means that the instantaneous change of total
flux and coil current approximates zero. Equation (5) yields the following form.
6

Where Wf store energy in the magnetic field. The simplified expression shown in (6) indicates
the differential work done by the electromagnetic force that is determined by the decrease in the
energy stored in magnetic coupling field. The field energy stored in the lossless magnetic energy
conversion system commonly equals the stored energy in the inductor. It can be described by

µ 8
Where L(X) =

µ
Wf = 9

10
Substituting (8) into (7), the electromagnetic force dynamically imposed upon on the armature
can be determined by the coil current and the derivative of the self-inductance with respect to
armature displacement and shown as follows:

10

In theory, the basic characteristic of self-inductance L(x) varies inversely proportional with the
armature displacement x , so that the electromagnetic force shown in (10) illustrates that the
value of electromagnetic force is a function of the square of coil current and the change of self-
inductance with respect to the armature displacement. Obviously, the change of electromagnetic
force forced on the armature is always a nonlinear value during the closing process.

Fe= ( )= -
= -Ff 11

From measurement of the sample contactor, the number of turns is 8360 and 4840turns for 380V
and 220V respectively. Current=32A and A=1.6 cm2=1.6x10-4m2 is cross sectional area of
contactor core. And µ 0= 4Πx10-7 and x is the length of spring to expand during the system force
is applied. There fore
Fe= -48402x4πx10-7x1.6x10-4x322= -4.9825X10-4 Newton for 220v 12
2X2 X2

Fe= -83602x4πx10-7x1.6x10-4x322=-8.6061x10-3 Newton for380v 13

2 2
2X X

There for depend on the spring length the value of the applied force is determined.

4.3 Wire size measurement using American Wire Gauge (AWG)

American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a U.S. standard set of non-ferrous wire conductor sizes. The
"gauge" means the diameter. Non-ferrous includes copper and also aluminum and other
materials, but is most frequently applied to copper household electrical wiring and telephone
wiring.AWG or American wire gauge is the standard system that determines a cross section of a
wire using a gauge for solid, round electrical wires. The higher the AWG number, the thinner or
smaller the wire.

AWG to mm conversion calculator:-The n gauge wire diameter dn in millimeters (mm) is

equal to 0.127mm times 92 raised to the power of 36 minus gauge number n, divided by 39:

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Diameter (mm) = 0.127 mm × 92(36-n)/39

0.127mm is the diameter of gauge #36.

Wire cross sectional area calculation:-The n gauge wires cross sectional area in square
millimeters (mm2) is equal to pi divided by 4 times the square wire diameter d in millimeters
(mm):-

Area (mm2) = (π/4) ×d2 = 0.012668 mm2 × 92(36-n)/19.5

Table for AWG to mm conversion calculator

AWG # Diameter in mm Area(mm2) AWG Type

1 7.348139832 42.40874661
2 6.543707496 33.63166505
3 5.827339813 26.67112292
4 5.189395968 21.15116206
5 4.621290568 16.77363409
6 4.115378099 13.30209658
7 3.664850034 10.54904218
8 3.263643206 8.365770776
9 2.906358208 6.634357841
10 2.588186728 5.261284959
11 2.304846843 4.17238866
12 2.052525388 3.308854637
13 1.827826644 2.624041023
Copper
14 1.627726634 2.080959137
15 1.449532428 1.650275621
16 1.290845906 1.308728066
17 1.149531476 1.037868541
18 1.023687343 0.823067171
19 0.911619905 0.652721941
20 0.81182097 0.517632032
21 0.722947452 0.410500864
22 0.643803298 0.325541985
23 0.573323394 0.258166531
24 0.510559227 0.204735367
25 0.454666122 0.162362528
26 0.404891875 0.128759338

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5 Production lines for contactor

Paper
cutter
machine

Figure 5.1 production lines for contactor

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 Process Technology List of machine in selected technology
Fully Automatic winding machine is
Manual selected because of the reason
Coil making Semi automatic Has variable frequency and step
Fully Automatic less speed regulation
Efficient
Easily count the number of turns
Control mechanism is PLC
Fast to produce the coil
Hydraulic plastic Thermoplastic Plastic type Injection
injection mold machine is selected because
Plastic molded Vertical type plastic It has low noise
mold high speed
Horizontal type plastic Fully automatic
mold Use Material application such as
Thermoplastic plastic PP PE PS ABS etc

U type Fully automatic double E shaped core

Core making Single E type making machine is selected
Double E with air gap
I type
cutting manual Automatic cutting of insulation paper is
automatic preferable because of
consumes small time
reduce paper loss

Shielded metal Welding machine is

Welding of Shielded metal Arc selected due to
materials welding Insulation resistance is good
Tip welding for joint Simplest to use
Gas tungsten arc welding Used for jointing process
Plasma arc welding Less power consumed
Use air cooling methods according
to IEC standards

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6 Machines and raw materials used for contactor production

6.1 Machines
A. Coil winding Machine: -coil winding is the manufacture of electromagnetic coils. Coils are
used as components of circuits, and to provide the magnetic field of electrical machines
B. Plastic injection mold machine for different size: - An injection molding machine is a
machine for converting the plastic material into a liquid state, injecting into the cavity of the
mold, opening the mold, and taking out the solidified molded article.
C. Contactor core making machine:-a device used to produce the core of the contactor.
D. Welding machine: - Device that provides an electric current to joint materials, usually metals
or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence (most often by melting small parts of them).
Detailed description of the proposed machinery and technical specifications

No Machine name Technical specifications unit Qty

1 Plastic injection mold Injection rate -62g/s-1175g/s

machine Power rating=13kw(change as required)
with different size Voltage rating=400v/50HZ(change as
of injection died of required)
the contactor mold Noise- low noise
with all accessories Fully automatic
set 1
and spare part Clamping force 600kN-16000KN
operation and Speed-high speed
maintenance Injection weight 101-6280g
manual Opening stroke 140-1500mm
Material application-PP PE PS ABS etc.
Injection press-150Mpa-250Mpa

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2 Coil winding machine Center height =950mm
With all
Max load=1000kg
accessories and
Max. length=1350mm
spare part
Erection, Application=winding coil
operation and
Working torque=3000N.m
maintenance
Working speed=0_100rpm
manual
Control Speed regulation: variable frequency and
mechanism system
step less speed regulation

Wire material: copper/aluminum

set 1
Wire size: flat max.5*12mm

Wire type is round or flat

Control system:PLC

Diameter of round wire= 0.3 _5.0mm

Max.turns preset number=9999.9

Counting turn range 0_9999.9

Counting number=5 digit counting up to 12

segment preset, total turns preset, reversible

counting and power off memory

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3 Welding machine Frequency 50Hz
Components and Continuous rating
accessories according Power supply 220v for single phase and 400
to IEC three phase.
Energy efficiency label Welding current range: 150-240 A
on the name plate Type of cooling: air cooled and according to
Maintenance manual IEC standards;
Cooling methods fan cooled and according to IEC standards
set 1
according to IEC Ambient Temperature: 40degC
standards Welding cable min 10m
Power supply cable min 10m
Electrode holder: IEC stds max 400 A
Insulation resistance: Not less than 5 Mega
ohms
4 Core making machine Frequency 50Hz
Components and
Continuous rating
accessories according
Power supply 400 three phase
to IEC Type of cooling: air cooled and according to
Energy efficiency label IEC standards;
set 1
on the name plate fan cooled and according to IEC standards
Maintenance manual
Cooling methods
according to IEC
standards

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6.2 Raw materials required
Enameled copper wire
Insulating materials such as press board, pp paper
Hard materials such as Bolts, Nuts, Screws, Washers
Copper plate
Pressure Adjusting Springs
Silicon sheet metal
Poly propylene (PP): - PP is a versatile thermoplastic capable with many commercial
applications. PP is available in a wide variety of malt flow rates and has many advantages.
Calcium carbonate:-Calcium carbonate considered a non-reactive ingredient, which can
be combined with other ingredients to optimize finished product characteristics. Calcium
carbonate is used to strengthen the molded plastic.
Master batches: - Master batch is a solid or liquid additive for plastic, for coloring (color
master batch).
7 Testing materials and testing mechanism for contactor

7.1 Testing materials needed

Ohmmeter
Megger
continuity tester
Wheatstone bridge volt-ammeter
7.2 Testing mechanism
A Mechanical Test

It used to check the actual pressure of main contact and contact pressure of auxiliary contacts
either at normally open or normally closed.
B. Electrical tests

1. Open test:-using continuity tester, ohmmeter, etc.

2. Ohmic resistance test: Using ohmmeter, Wheatstone bridge volt-ammeter

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3. Ground test- using megger, continuity tester: Ground test is carried out by connecting one of
the terminals of the megger to the core and the other terminal to one of the other terminals of
the coil winding.
4. Insulation resistance test – using megger: It is carried out by winding a bare wire on coil
and connecting one of the terminals of the megger to this wire and the other terminal to one
of the terminals of coil winding. The insulation resistance of the apparatus coil is not
standardized by rule.

8. Measuring device contactor coil

Steel ruler: is a basic measuring tool. When used correctly, a good steel rule is a
surprisingly accurate measuring device
Micrometer:-a gauge which measures small distances or thicknesses between its two faces
wire, one of which can be moved away from or towards the other by turning a screw with a
fine thread.
Venire caliper: - is a precision instrument that measures internal dimensions, outside
dimensions, and depth. It can measure to an accuracy of one thousandth of an inch and one
hundredth of a millimeter. The caliper has two sets of jaws, one each on the upper and lower
portions.

9 layout of the plant

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