Research of an improved interruption model coupling air blast for the low voltage circuit breaker

Abstract

Aimed to provide a more close-to-reality and rapid calculation method for optimization design of low voltage circuit breaker with complex mechanism, an interruption model is constructed, which can describe the coupling of air blast process with arc model, complex mechanical movement, magnetic field, and electric circuit. The model is based on the non-stationary gas conservation equations, and considers the influence of the chamber structure on the gas dynamics. To realize the interaction between the arc movement and the gas flow simply, on the one hand, the moving electric arc is deemed an energy input source of the chamber gas. On the other hand, the movement equation of the arc considering action of the gas flow is built. With this model, the general principle of the chamber gas flow, arc voltage and current during the interruption process of an actual breaker are calculated and compared with the experiment results. As an application, the influence of the chamber vent size on the arc movement is studied with the model as well.