Investigation of cathode spot characteristics in vacuum under transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts

Xianhai PANG (庞先海); Ting WANG (王婷); Shixin XIU (修士新); Junfei YANG (杨俊飞); Hao JING (景皓)

doi:10.1088/2058-6272/aab782

Plasma Science and Technology > 2018 > 20(8): 85502-085502. > DOI: 10.1088/2058-6272/aab782

Xianhai PANG (庞先海), Ting WANG (王婷), Shixin XIU (修士新), Junfei YANG (杨俊飞), Hao JING (景皓). Investigation of cathode spot characteristics in vacuum under transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts[J]. Plasma Science and Technology, 2018, 20(8): 85502-085502. DOI: 10.1088/2058-6272/aab782

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Investigation of cathode spot characteristics in vacuum under transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts

¹ State Grid Hebei Electric Power Research Institute, Shijiazhuang 050021, People’s Republic of China
² State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, People’s Republic of China

Funds: This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51777153).

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Received Date: January 12, 2018

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Abstract

Abstract

With the continuous improvement of current levels in power systems, the demands on the breaking capacity requirements of vacuum circuit breakers are getting higher and higher. The breaking capacity of vacuum breakers is determined by cathode spots, which provide electrons and metal vapor to maintain the arc. In this paper, experiments were carried out on two kinds of transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts in a demountable vacuum chamber, the behavior of the cathode spots was recorded by a high-speed charge-coupled device (CCD) video camera, and the characteristics of the cathode spots were analyzed through the image processing method. The phenomenon of cathode spot groups and the star-shaped pattern of the spots were both discovered in the experiment. The experimental results show that with the condition of TMF contacts the initial expansion speed of cathode spots is influenced by some parameters, such as the tested current, contact gap, the structure of the contact, the contact diameter, the number of slots, etc. In addition, the influence of the magnetic field on the formation of the cathode spot groups, the distribution, and the dynamic characteristics of the cathode spots were analyzed. It is concluded that the characteristics of the cathode spots are due to the effect of the magnetic field on the near-cathode plasma. The study of the characteristics of cathode spots in this paper would be helpful in the exploration of the physical process of vacuum arcs, and would be of guiding significance in optimizing the design of vacuum circuit breakers.
- vacuum arc,
- transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts,
- cathode spots,
- vacuum circuit breaker

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References (25)

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