Arc penetration to the arc chute and arc chute plates erosion

Abstract

In a recent paper the problems of arc quenching in arc chute were discussed. It is shown that arc lifetime essentially depends on method of arc introduction to the arc chute, since the arc tries repelling from the edges of plates conditioned by electrical forces side by side with attraction from magnetic forces if the plates are ferromagnetic. As a result a delay due to arc spot formation occurs. The processes of arc penetration to the arc chute with different number of plates was studied experimentally. An erosion damage picture of the high power air circuit breaker arc chute plates material and structure of erosion products was investigated by electron microscopy and X-ray spectrometry. High speed filming of processes in arc chute is presented. In some conditions with a background of homogeneous discharge plasma jets proceed from plates. The dynamics and structure were explored.