Arc Behavior and Interruption Ability of Uniform Vacuum Arc Control Technology and Its Application to Vacuum Interrupter

The vacuum arc characteristics and high current interruption ability of several different sized electrodes applied in the uniform vacuum arc control method named self arc diffusion by electrode (SADE) are presented. The arc behavior of the test electrode during the arcing period was observed by a high-speed video camera. At extremely high interruption currents, the arc of the conventional axial magnetic field (AMF) electrode concentrates, causing local heating of the electrode. However, the arc of the SADE diffuses over the whole contact area thus avoiding local heating. The interruption ability of SADE is about twice as much as that of the conventional AMF for the same sized electrode. By applying this arc control method to vacuum circuit breaker (VCB), it can be made more compact and lighter than the conventional type. (C) 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.