The effect of short circuits and flame temperature modes on the change in the microstructure of copper in automotive wiring

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to investigate the causes of vehicle ignition by analyzing the microstructure of copper conductive elements of automotive wiring. This study considers the three most likely vehicle fire scenarios. According to the first scenario, a fire occurs due to overheating of the automotive wiring by short circuit currents. In the second scenario, car fires result from direct exposure to an open flame. In the third scenario, vehicle fires are due to the combined effects of short circuits and open flames. These three scenarios affect the microstructure of copper conductive automotive wiring elements in different ways. Microstructural analysis of copper wires exposed to the temperature conditions of these three fire scenarios was carried out using an optical microscope (OM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometer. It has been disclosed that when exposed to an open flame on a copper wire, the fine-grained microstructure of the original copper wire turns into a coarse-grained one. The impact of an electric arc caused by a short circuit can instantly melt copper wires.