Simulation and Experimental Analysis of Arc Motion Characteristics in Air Circuit Breaker

In this paper, to simulate the arc motion in an air circuit breaker （ACB）, a three- dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model is developed, considering the influence of ther- mal radiation, the change of physical parameters of arc plasma and the nonlinear characteristic of ferromagnetic material. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas flow and current density of arc plasma in the arc region are calculated. The simulation results show some phenomena which discourage arc interruption, such as back commutation and arc burning at the back of the splitter plate. To verify the simulation model, the arc motion is studied experimentally. The influences of the material and position of the innermost barrier plate are analyzed mainly. It proved that the model developed in this paper can efficiently simulate the arc motion. The results indicate that the insulation barrier plate close to the top of the splitter plate is conducive to the arc splitting, which leads to the significant increase of the arc voltage, so it is better for arc interruption. The research can provide methods and references to the optimization of ACB design.

Simulation of the Effect of a Metal Vapor Arc on Electrode Erosion in Liquid Metal Current Limiting Device

The effect of arc plasma on electrode erosion in a liquid metal current limiter （LMCL） is studied. Based on a simplified two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic model, the elongated GaInSn metal vapor arc and its contraction process in a liquid metal current limiter are simulated. The distributions of temperature, pressure and velocity of the arc plasma are calculated. The simulation results indicate that the electrode erosion is mainly caused by two high temperature gas jet flows arising from the pressure gradient, which is a result of the non-uniform arc temperature distribution. The gas flows, which act as jets onto the electrode surface, lead to the evaporation of the electrode material form the surface. A redesign structure of the electrode is proposed and implemented according to the analysis, which greatly increased the service life of the electrode.

Simulation and Experimental Study of Arc Column Expansion After Ignition in Low-Voltage Circuit Breakers

The dynamic process of arc pressure and corresponding arc column expansion, which is the main feature after arc ignition and has a significant effect on the breaking behaviour of low -voltage circuit breakers, is studied. By constructing a three dimensional mathematical model of air arc plasma and adopting the Control Volume Method, the parameters of arc plasma including temperature and pressure are obtained. The variations of pressure field and temperature field with time are simulated. The result indicates that there are six stages for the process of arc column expansion according to the variation of pressure in arc chamber. In the first stage, the maximal pressure locates in the region close to cathode, and in the second stage the maximal pressure shifts to the region close to the anode. In the third stage, the pressure difference between the middle of arc column and the ambient gas is very large, so the arc column begins to expand apparently. In the fourth stage, the pressure wave propagates towards both ends and the maximal pressure appears at the two ends when the pressure wave reaches both sidewalls. In the fifth stage, the pressure wave is reflected and collides in the middle of the arc chamber. In the last stage, the propagation and reflection of pressure wave will repeat several times until a steady burning state is reached. In addition, the experimental results of arc column expansion, corresponding to the arc pressure variation, are presented to verify the simulation results.

COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON SOFT-SWITCHING ARC WELDING INVERTER POWER SOURCE

Based on the existing component models in the Pspice software package, a combined model for Insulat- ed the Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is established, in which a non - linear is introduced to represent the parasitic capacitance. Using this model, computerized simulation is conducted for the FB - ZVZCS - PWM soft - ewitching converter,the switching and energy-transferring characteristics of the components are analyzed.The simulation results are testified by experiments.It is proved that by abopting appropriate models,computerized simulation becomes an effective tool for investigation of arc welding inverter power source.

Influence of Copper Vapor on Low-Voltage Circuit Breaker Arcs During Stationary and Moving States

The influence of copper vapor on the low-voltage circuit breaker arcs is studied. A three-dimensional （3-D） magnetohydrodynamics（MHD） model of arc motion under the effect of external magnetic field is built up. By adopting the commercial computational fluid dynamics （CFD） package FLUENT based on control-volume method, the above MHD model is solved. For the mediums of air-1% Cu and air-10% Cu, the distributions of stationary temperature, pressure, electrical potential and the arc motion processes are compared with those of a pure air arc. The copper vapor diffusion process in the arc chamber and the distribution of copper vapor mass concentration are also simulated. The results shows that the copper vapor has a cooling effect on the arc plasma and can decrease the stationary voltage as well. Moreover, the presence of copper vapor can decelerate the arc motion in the quenching chambers. The maximal copper vapor concentration locates behind the arc root because of the existence of a ＂double vortex＂ near the electrodes.

The Influence of Contact Space on Arc Commutation Process in Air Circuit Breaker

In this paper, a 3D magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） arc simulation model is applied to analyze the arc motion during current interruption in a certain air circuit breaker （ACB）. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas flow and current density of the arc plasma in the arc region are calculated, and the factors influencing the commutation process are analyzed according to the calculated results. Based on the airflow in the arc chamber, the causes of arc commutation asynchrony and the back commutation are investigated. It indicates that a reasonable contact space design is crucial to a successful arc commutation process. To verify the simulation results, the influence of contact space on arc voltage and arc commutation is tested. This research can provide methods and references to the optimization of ACB design.

The Influence of Longitudinal Magnetic Field on the CO_2 Arc Shape

The COarc welding was carried out under a longitudinal magnetic field,and the arc shape has been studied by using a high-speed camera.From the camera images,we know that under the action of the longitudinal magnetic field,the upper end of the arc will constrict and the lower end of the arc will expand.It would become a bell-type shape and rotate at a highspeed in the optimum range of magnetic field parameters.The arc shape was simulated using a mathematical model,which was established based on experiment data and theoretical knowledge,and mechanism analysis has been carried out regarding the effect of longitudinal magnetic field on COwelding arcs.

Numerical study of the flow in the Yellow River with non-monotonous banks

A 2-D depth averaged RNG k- ε model is developed to simulate the flow in a typical reach of the Upper Yellow River with non-monotonic banks. In order to take account of the effect of the secondary flow in a bend, the momentum equations are modified by adding an additional source term. A comparison between the numerical simulation and the field measurements indicates that the improved 2-D depth averaged RNG k- ε model can improve the accuracy of the numerical simulation. An arc spline interpolation method is developed to interpolate the non-monotonic river banks. The method can also be reasonably applied for the 2-D interpolation of the river bed level. Through a comparison of the water surface gradients simulated in the seven bends of the studied reach, some analytical formulae are improved to reasonably calculate the longitudinal and transverse gradients in meandering river reaches. Furthermore, the positions of the maximum water depth and the maximum velocity in a typical bend are discussed.