Anode Erosion Pattern Caused by Blowing Effect in Constricted Vacuum Arcs Subjected to Axial Magnetic Field

Geng

et al. 2016

In a high-current interruption, the contact surface in a vacuum interrupter might be severely damaged by constricted vacuum arcs causing a molten area on it. As a result, a protrusion will be initiated by a transient recovery voltage after current zero, enhancing the local electric field and making breakdowns occur easier. The objective of this paper is to simulate the deformation process on the molten area under a high electric field by adopting the finite element method. A time-dependent Electrohydrodynamic model was established, and the liquid-gas interface was tracked by the level-set method. From the results, the liquid metal can be deformed to a Taylor cone if the applied electric field is above a critical value. This value is correlated to the initial geometry of the liquid metal, which increases as the size of the liquid metal decreases. Moreover, the buildup time of a Taylor cone obeys the power law t = k × E−3, where E is the initial electric field and k is a coefficient related to the material property, indicating a temporal self-similar characteristic. In addition, the influence of temperature has little impact on the deformation but has great impact on electron emission. Finally, the possible reason to initiate a delayed breakdown is associated with the deformation. The breakdown does not occur immediately when the voltage is just applied upon the gap but is postponed to several milliseconds later when the tip is formed on the liquid metal.

Deformation of contact surfaces in a vacuum interrupter after high-current interruptions

Geng

et al. 2016

Fully kinetic model of breakdown during sheath expansion after interruption of vacuum arcs

Zhou

et al. 2016

Research on sheath expansion is critical to the understanding of the dielectric recovery process in a vacuum interrupter after interruption of vacuum arcs. In this paper, we investigated how residual plasma affects breakdown in the sheath expansion period after the current zero. To simulate sheath expansion and breakdown, we developed a fully kinetic particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision model with one spatial dimension and three velocity dimensions. The model accounted for various collisions, including ionization, excitation, elastic collisions, charge exchange, and momentum exchange, and we added an external circuit to the model to make the calculations self-consistent. The existence of metal vapor slowed the sheath expansion in the gap and caused high electric field formation in front of the cathode surface. The initial residual plasma, which was at sufficiently low density, seemed to have a limited impact on breakdown, and the metal vapor dominated the breakdown in this case. Additionally, the breakdown probability was sensitive to the initial plasma density if the value exceeded a specific threshold, and plasma at sufficiently high density could mean that breakdown would occur more easily. We found that if the simulation does not take the residual plasma into account, it could overestimate the critical value of the metal vapor density, which is always used to describe the boundary of breakdown after interruption of vacuum arcs. We discussed the breakdown mechanism in sheath expansion, and the breakdown is determined by a combination of metal vapor, residual plasma, and the electric field in front of the cathode surface.

Modelling of crater formation on anode surface by high-current vacuum arcs

Tian

Jiang

et al. 2016

Anode melting and crater formation significantly affect interruption of high-current vacuum arcs. The primary objective of this paper is to theoretically investigate the mechanism of anode surface crater formation, caused by the combined effect of surface heating during the vacuum arc and pressure exerted on the molten surface by ions and electrons from the arc plasma. A model of fluid flow and heat transfer in the arc anode is developed and combined with a magnetohydrodynamics model of the vacuum arc plasma. Crater formation is observed in simulation for a peak arcing current higher than 15 kA on 40 mm diam. Cu electrodes spaced 10 mm apart. The flow of liquid metal starts after 4 or 5 ms of arcing, and the maximum velocities are 0.95 m/s and 1.39 m/s for 20 kA and 25 kA arcs, respectively. This flow redistributes thermal energy, and the maximum temperature of the anode surface does not remain in the center. Moreover, the condition for the liquid droplet formation on the anode surfaces is developed. The solidification process after current zero is also analyzed. The solidification time has been found to be more than 3 ms after 25 kA arcing. The long solidification time and sharp features on crater rims induce Taylor cone formation.