Experimental Study of Arc Discharge Induced Electrode Erosion and Its Influence on Arc Behaviors

Abstract

Substantial energy dissipation in arc discharge results in strong wall and electrode erosion in a circuit breaker chamber, which largely alters arc plasma properties and thus affects the arc behaviors. Due to the strong vaporization rate, the generated vapor will give rise to a gas flow. Vapor flow and gas-dynamics will change the local partial vapor pressure, which in return adjusts the vaporization rate. The understanding of arc induced vaporization is of great importance to study dynamic arc behavior and the power interruption performance in circuit breakers, which however has not been fully studied. Significant progress has been made in the experiments and modelling of electric arc. Due to the surface ablation and metal erosion, a theoretical model needs to be established to estimate the influence of metal vaporization on the arc behaviors. In this work, we show the experiment of a low-voltage arc discharge and point out the most important factors that determines the metal vaporization rate, namely the discharge current. Beyond an explanation of the physical process of plasma induced erosion, we outline the general approach to study and model the arc induced metal vaporization.