Frangible electrical contact for a perforating gun system

A perforating gun deployable in a wellbore as part of a tool string, the perforating gun comprising:

• an outer housing having a pair of opposed longitudinal ends and a central passage extending between the pair of longitudinal ends;
• a charge carrier assembly received in the central passage of the outer housing and comprising a charge carrier having a pair of opposed longitudinal ends and at least one radially oriented receptacle configured to receive an explosive charge;
• an initiator assembly including an electrical switch configured to detonate a detonator in response to receiving a firing signal;
• and
• an electrical connector receivable in the central passage of the outer housing and electrically connected to the initiator assembly, the electrical connector comprising a frangible conductor rod comprising an elongated body with a pair of opposed longitudinal ends, a peripheral surface extending between the pair of longitudinal ends, and one or more frangible grooves formed in the peripheral surface, wherein at least one of the one or more frangible grooves defines a minimum cross-sectional area of the frangible conductor rod and a combined axial length of the one or more frangible grooves is at least 2% of the axial length of the frangible conductor rod.

A perforating gun deployable in a wellbore as part of a tool string, the perforating gun comprising:

• an outer housing having a pair of opposed longitudinal ends and a central passage extending between the pair of longitudinal ends;
• a charge carrier assembly received in the central passage of the outer housing and comprising a charge carrier having a pair of opposed longitudinal ends and at least one radially oriented receptacle configured to receive an explosive charge;
• an initiator assembly including an electrical switch configured to detonate a detonator in response to receiving a firing signal;
• and
• an electrical connector receivable in the central passage of the outer housing and electrically connected to the initiator assembly, the electrical connector comprising a frangible conductor rod comprising an elongate body, a pair of opposed longitudinal ends, a peripheral surface extending between the pair of longitudinal ends, and a plurality of frangible grooves formed in the peripheral surface and spaced along a majority of the axial length of the frangible conductor rod.

A method of providing a perforating gun deployable in a wellbore as part of a tool string, the method comprising:

• (a) forming an electrical connector of the perforating gun comprising an electrical contact including a frangible conductor rod whereby the frangible conductor rod is configured to yield in response to an application of a shear load to the electrical contact that is equal to or greater than a predefined shear load;
• (b) coupling the electrical connector with an initiator assembly of the perforating gun that comprises an electrical switch;
• (c) coupling the electrical connector with a charge carrier of the perforating gun having at least one radially oriented receptacle configured to receive an explosive charge detonatable by the initiator assembly when ballistically coupled to the initiator assembly;
• and
• (d) positioning the charge carrier in a central passage of an outer housing of the perforating gun.