451 / 2017-05-02 21:47:26

Experiment investigation on triggered vacuum arc under the different contact materials

1652,13822,13823

Abstract- In order to improve the breaking capacity of contacts, it is very important to find a better contact material. In this paper, the triggering experiments of plate contact with different material are studied to investigate the characteristics of vacuum arc. The current range is from 1kA to 20kA. The gap distance is changed from 3mm to 10mm. The arc appearance and the behavior of cathode spots are captured by high-speed camera with an exposure time of 2 μs. The arc current and arc voltage are measured at the same time by Rogowski coil and high-voltage probe. Three kinds of materials CuCr, WCu and CuW-WC with several different diameter specifications are conducted in this paper. Compared with the experiment results, the vacuum arc characteristic is analyzed to be a basis for searching the new contact material. The erosion of the contacts after arcing experiments can show the contacts’ lifetime and it can provide a basis for the subsequent contact into commercial use.