111 / 2024-04-12 17:19:47

Three-dimensional transient MHD simulation of drawing arc in high voltage level vacuum circuit breakers

Vacuum arc;,MHD model,3D numerical simulation

The vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) have gained increasing attention due to its safety and pollution-free features. In this paper, a three-dimensional transient model will be established to study the temporal and spatial characteristics of the arc under the actual axial magnetic field (AMF) contact. The simulation takes into account the spatial magnetic field generated by real contacts and electrode opening process to be closer to the real physical situation. At the same time, as the commercial contact material is CuCr alloy, the component characteristics of the arc are considered. The simulation shows that the arc characteristics vary significantly with the current. The ion number density, ion temperature, electron temperature all increase with the current. At the same time, there is a significant difference in the arc characteristics between the rising and falling stages of current due to the effects of eddy currents and the transient characteristics of the arc. The effect of eddy currents is well suppressed by the slots on the electrodes. The simulation results in this paper are consistent with the experimental results.