Simulation and Experimental Analysis of Arc Motion Characteristics in Air Circuit Breaker

In this paper, to simulate the arc motion in an air circuit breaker (ACB), a three- dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) model is developed, considering the in∞uence of ther- mal radiation, the change of physical parameters of arc plasma and the nonlinear characteristic of ferromagnetic material. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas ∞ow and current density of arc plasma in the arc region are calculated. The simulation results show some phenomena which discourage arc interruption, such as back commutation and arc burning at the back of the splitter plate. To verify the simulation model, the arc motion is studied experimentally. The in∞uences of the material and position of the innermost barrier plate are analyzed mainly. It proved that the model developed in this paper can e-ciently simulate the arc motion. The results indicate that the insulation barrier plate close to the top of the splitter plate is conducive to the arc splitting, which leads to the signiflcant increase of the arc voltage, so it is better for arc interruption. The research can provide methods and references to the optimization of ACB design.