Stress relaxation Stress relaxation is the gradual decay of stress at constant strain. Applying a fixed strain or displacement to a sample and measuring the load with time is the data collection technique. Temperature is more important than time for stress relaxation.
Higher temperature means more rapid relaxation.
The temperature in an actual connector depends on the surrounding temperature and heat generated in the connector. The connector material electrical and thermal conductivity decides the maximum temperature under different conditions. Alloys with higher conductivity will therefore reach a lower maximum temperature that is advantageous from a stress relaxation point of view. Most connectors operate at temperatures less than one half the absolute melting temperature. Therefore, non-diffusion controlled mechanisms, including dislocation gliding, flow of grain boundaries, diffusion of vacancies and twinning govern the stress relaxation process.