Characteristics of a vacuum switching contact based on bipolaraxial magnetic field

Axial magnetic field (AMF) contacts can increase the interruption capability of vacuum interrupters. Depending on the design, the principles of the local axial field arrangement are different. For unipolar arrangements the direction of the axial magnetic field is the same within the whole contact area. For bipolar arrangements, the polarity of the field changes once. In this paper investigations have been carried out to characterize a bipolar AMF contact system and to test its interruption performance. The influence of the bipolar AMF on the arc development and the thermal stress is described by high speed camera and contact surface pictures. In addition, three-dimensional AMF simulations have been performed by means of a finite-element program to estimate the influence of slots within the contact plates on the AMF performance. The high interruption capability of the bipolar AMF contact system has been verified in different test laboratories up to 12 kV/80 kA_RMS (symmetrical) and 36 kV/40 kA_RMS (including 40% DC) by three and single phase tests. The investigations are completed by measuring the post-arc current and the shield-potential during recovery period, both describing the switching behavior of the contact system     

The influence of unipolar axial magnetic field on the behavior of vacuum arcs

The behavior of vacuum arcs under the influence of unipolar axial magnetic field (AMF) has been investigated. In experimental investigations, the vacuum arc mode is studied at different arc currents by using high-speed charge-coupled device (CCD) video images. In spite of the AMF, first sign of arc constriction appears at relatively small currents of about 15 kA (RMS). Three different arc modes were found. Based on generalized Ohm's law, the current density distribution in the vacuum arc with unipolar axial magnetic field is computed using three-dimensional finite-element method (FEM) software. The calculated current distribution is confirmed by the vacuum arc appearance taken from CCD video film. The distribution of AMF can be optimized by such experiments and theoretical analysis.