Current constriction of high-current vacuum arc in vacuum interrupters

Abstract

Compared with previous paper [L. Wang et al., J. Appl. Phys. 100, 113304 (2006)], higher-current vacuum arc is simulated and analyzed based on magnetohydrodynamics model, and current constriction phenomenon in arc column is mainly paid attention to and analyzed in this paper. According to simulation results, it can be found that significant current constriction only appears near anode regions for lower-current vacuum arc. However, with the increase of arc current, current constriction also appears near the cathode side, and with the further increase of arc current, current constriction near the cathode side can become more significant than that near the anode side. The current constriction near the cathode side can be mainly caused by very high current level. The increase of axial magnetic field (AMF) strength will inhibit current constriction in the whole arc column. For influence of AMF distribution, saddle-shaped distributed AMF can more efficiently inhibit current constriction of arc column than bell-shaped AMF. The phenomenon of current constriction near the cathode side has also been found by many experiments, which also can verify the correctness of simulation results.