Additive effect of silicone resin on direct current arc quenching performance of a model electric fuse: electrical resistivity and thermal diffusivity of high-temperature Cu/SiO2 vapor mixed with C2H6SiO vapor decomposition

Abstract

Concerning DC fuses equipped with silica sand (SiO2) as an arc quenching material, the authors have proposed an additive installation of silicone resin (C2H6SiO) on a fuse-element surface to improve the limitation and interruption ability of high DC. This paper describes the additive effect of the silicone resin on the transient resistance of the arc that has formed during the DC interrupting process in a model fuse, based on the measurement result that the arc resistance markedly rises with the silicone mass coated on the fuse element. This phenomenon is subsequently explained as resulting from a thermal diffusivity of high-temperature C2H6SiO/SiO2/Cu vapor. In other words, the mixing of C2H6SiO decomposition vapor into the arc can promote vapor temperature decay through the higher thermal diffusivity, resulting in a rapid increase in the electrical resistivity of the vapor during the DC interrupting process.