OK, what causes dewetting? It is caused by tinning a surface which is 
inherently solderable, but has myriad unsolderable points of small 
diameter. The commonest causes are the implantation of abrasive 
particles in the base metal, co-deposition of organics in a badly 
controlled plating process, gaps caused by epitaxial plating, selective 
oxidation.

It could worry me, if the contacts in question overheated; have you 
measured a significant temp difference between a dewetting and a 
non-dewetting contacts at full current?

Brian

On 06.06.2013 21:59, Ed Popielarski wrote:
> Greetings fellow 'netters,
>
> I have discovered a dewetting condition on high current blade connector(s) which causes me to raise an eyebrow. I can't find any scholarly articles discussing the long term effect such an irregular surface at the material contact interface (photo located at http://stevezeva.homestead.com/Terminal_de-wetting.JPG ) will have on connection integrity at high current. This is an extreme environment automotive application with MTBF expectations in excess of 10 years.
>
> Any guidance and/or professional opinions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> As always, thanks to Steve G. for sharing his webspace with us!
>
> Ed Popielarski
> Engineering Manager
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