Forty Years Toward Elastic Contact since 1985!

The elastic liquid-metal contact was not invented in a garage. It is the result of four decades of systematic research, industrial testing, and the work of a scientific school that understood the fundamental limits of solid-contact architecture.

Origins of the Idea (1977–1985)

Systematic research into liquid-metal contacts for high-current electrical systems began in the 1970s. One of the earliest documented solutions was described in USSR Author's Certificate No. 642782 (1979), using a metal mesh wetted with liquid metal to reduce local overheating and improve conductivity.

Through the 1980s, this work evolved toward composite contacts — structures where the liquid phase was integrated into a porous or fibrous refractory metal matrix.

The key breakthrough was an elastic liquid-metal contact capable of:

• Operating in any spatial orientation

• Functioning independently of gravity

• Withstanding accelerations exceeding 10g

• Retaining the liquid phase under dynamic loading

• Maintaining stable contact resistance under pulse currents

The elastic metal matrix provided capillary retention and damping, eliminating leakage risk under vibration or shock — making the technology viable for aerospace applications.

Kyiv Development Period (1995–2015)

After 1990, research continued at the Institute for Problems of Materials Science of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, under Dr. Yuriy Smirnov (1937–2017).

From 1995, the technology advanced in collaboration with Mykhailo Prytula, who joined as Smirnov's student and led engineering implementation and commercial preparation.

During this period:

• Experimental vacuum contactors with composite elastic contacts were designed and built

• Endurance testing completed — up to 200,000 switching operations

• No contact welding observed under any test conditions

• Stable performance under overcurrent conditions confirmed

• Technology brought to the threshold of series production

The Scientific School

Development was supported by leading Ukrainian scientists:

Valeriy Skorokhod (1934–2017) Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Director of the Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science (2002–2015). Specialist in materials science and powder metallurgy.

Yuriy Smirnov (1937–2017) Doctor of Technical Sciences, senior researcher at IPM NASU. Developer of elastic composite liquid-metal contacts and scientific supervisor of the technology.

Industrial Support

At the production preparation stage, the project received support from Serhiy Chernyshov (1965–2015) — entrepreneur and owner of Lemma Insurance, at the time Ukraine's largest private insurance company.

As an underwriter working with large industrial risks, Chernyshov had direct statistical evidence of failures caused by:

• Contact node overheating

• Power contact welding

• Switchgear breakdowns

• Fires of electrical origin

His decision to invest was not speculation — it was actuarial logic. Insurance loss records showed contact-related failures as a recurring industrial problem, not an edge case.

Suspension and Resumption

The events of 2013–2015 in Ukraine — the beginning of the war and a series of personal losses — led to suspension of the project.

In 2024, a new phase of development began in Germany. The manufacturing process was redesigned to enable:

• Scalable contact diameter for different current ratings

• Direct integration into modern DC contactors

• Application in EV drivetrains, stationary energy storage (BESS), and aerospace systems

In 2025, Porta Motora UG was registered to commercialize the technology and bring the new contact architecture to market.

Why the Problem Persists After 40 Years

Despite decades of electrical engineering progress, the fundamental architecture of the power contact has barely changed. Most contactors still use solid metal contacts where stability is achieved by increasing clamping force.

As current ratings grow, this approach produces:

• Higher mechanical loads and electrodynamic repulsion forces

• Local overheating at contact micro-spots (alpha-spots)

• Welding risk under short-circuit conditions

• Escalating structural complexity to manage thermal and mechanical failure

The industry has scaled the problem along with the current. More amperes require more clamping force, which generates more heat, which demands more engineering to contain.

Elastic composite contacts offer a different architecture — not more force, but a fundamentally different contact surface structure. That is the principle behind Porta Motora's technology.