Simulation of High-current Vacuum Arcs: (I)Axial Magnetic Field

진공차단부 대전류 아크 해석: (I)축방향 자기장

The vacuum interrupter (VI) is used for medium-voltage switching circuits due to its abilities and advantages as a compact and environmental friendly circuit breaker. In general, the application of a sufficiently strong axial magnetic field (AMF) permits the arc to be maintained in a diffused mode to a high-current vacuum arc. A full understanding of the vacuum arc physics is very important since it can aid to improve the performance of vacuum interrupter. In order to closely examine the vacuum arc phenomena, it is necessary to predict the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) characteristics by the multidisciplinary numerical modeling, which is coupled with the electromagnetic and hydrodynamic fields, simultaneously. In this study, we have investigated the electromagnetic behaviors of high-current vacuum arcs for two different types of AMF contacts, which are coil-type and cup-type, using a commercial finite element analysis (FEA) package, ANSYS. The present results are compared with those of MAXWELL 3D, a reliable electromagnetic analysis software, for verification.