Time-Resolved Laser Doppler Measurements in the Underexpanded Jet of a Model Gas-Blast Circuit Breaker under Arcing Conditions

A differential laser Doppler system has been used in conjunction with a self-triggered oscillographic raster display system for measuring particle concentrations and flow velocities in a model gas-blast circuit breaker. The flow velocities have been correlated with particle size to enable extrapolation to be made to determine the true plasma flow velocity. The results have been deconvoluted to take account of lateral movements of the arc column. The measurements have been taken with air as the host arcing medium and a flow through a 25-mm-diameter orifice sustained by an upstream pressure of about 7 bar (downstream pressure 1 bar). The arc was sustained by sinusoidal cuffents of peak values 3 and 8 kA and a frequency of 85 Hz. These two currents corresponded to conditions when the model circuit breaker successfully and unsuccessfully interrupted the arc-sustaining current, respectively. The results show that in the case of the 8-kA arc, the flow pattern is severely distorted from that under nonarcing conditions, suggesting that this is a contributory reason for the poorer perfonnance of the model circuit breaker at this higher current level.