Maintaining electronic connector integrity in corrosive environments

摘要

Electronic connectors can be found everywhere, from automobiles to airplanes. Consequently, the effects of their failure range from the inconvenient to the tragic. The number of such failures can be reduced by better methods of sealing connectors against the conditions that lead to corrosion. Due to their very nature, connectors are the most vul-nerable points in a circuit. Corrosion, from either oxidation or galvanization, reduces current-carrying capacity and results in intermittent, ultimately permanent failure of the circuit. In harsh environments, the major cause of connector failure is galvanic corrosion, a process in which dissimilar metals give up or collect electrons in the presence of an electrolyte, usually water.