Anecdote: Tin Whiskers on Bus Bars

NASA
Anecdote: Tin Whiskers on Bus Bars

Anecdote: Tin Whiskers on Tin-Plated Copper Bus Bars Suspected to Have Produced Metal Vapor Arc Failures

This anecdote describes the observations of tin whisker formation on tin-plated copper bus bars installed in power distribution equipment at a large paper mill in Sweden. The tin whiskers are suspected to have contributed to the formation of metal vapor arcs within the equipment resulting in significant damage and downtime on at least three separate occasions (1997, 2000, 2009) at this mill.

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SEM Photos Courtesy of Lyudmyla Panashchenko

Acknowledgment to Mr. Anders Johansson for sharing this experience and the bus bar sample with engineers at NASA Goddard to enable the analysis herein.

Responsible NASA Officials: Michael Sampson/NASA GSFC Code 306 Dr. Henning Leidecker/NASA GSFC Code 562	Additional Researchers: Jay Brusse/Perot Systems Jong Kim/Orbital Sciences Corp.	Last Updated: August 3, 2009
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