12th International Conference of Electric Fuses and their Applications (ICEFA 2026)

Fast-charging cycles in electric vehicles expose fuses to repetitive, high-current pulses. While these pulses stay below the melting I^2t limit, they induce significant mechanical stress. In this paper, we apply the theory of Thermal-Mechanical Fatigue (TMF) to analyze silver fuse links. We hypothesize that these repeated cycles of thermal expansion and contraction drive micro-fractures within the fuse notches. Over time, this degradation reduces the effective cross-sectional area and notch bridge width, which in turn causes a shift in the device's Time-Current Characteristic (TCC). To test this, we subjected 50 fuse samples to 10,000 cycles at 1.5 times their rated current, followed by TCC tests to evaluate the cumulative impact on performance.

EV Fast-Charging,Thermal-Mechanical Fatigue (TMF),Silver Fuse Links,Notch Micro-fractures,Time-Current Characteristic (TCC)