Research

Chugai USA is committed to programs for improvement of contact performance for various electromechanical devices. These programs involve both material and contact design research and testing. Chugai USA has built an automatic testing system for testing relays and switches. This system is capable of simulating various types of electrical loads in automotive applications and doing the acceleration electrical life test, and it can be modified for applying similar test in other different applications. The test facility is also used for supporting our customers in their efforts to improve device performance. These programs give Chugai engineers fist hand information on operating characteristics of our contact designs and also an devices that use our contacts.

Chugai USA also supplies the technical services for outside different relay and switch manufactures and users. These services mainly involve the failure analysis of relays or switches in filed. The different micro-analysis instruments, such as SEM, EDXA, AES, ESCA, SIMS, etc., could be used to supply a reliable diagnosis.

There are several different R&D projects being doing in Chugai USA. Some are very fundamental, such as contact bounce category, arc phenomena, and contact resistance, and others are practical, such as automotive relay failure analysis, relay parameters and failures, different contact material evaluations, as well as different manufacturing processes.