CTS-9421598 Ira M. Cohen ABSTRACT This work is a numerical analysis with experimental validation of low energy arc heat transfer between dissimilar electrodes. Application is to provide understanding and possible improvement in the wire-bonding chip-to-frame interconnection process in microelectronics. The experiment is a 60-times scaled-up model of the actual low-energy-arc wire-bonding process which will closely simulate the actual industrial process. Predictions from the numerical model will be checked against experimental results, and the model will be refined until it achieves good prediction accuracy.