Mechanism of interaction between electric arc and breaking chamber in low voltage current limiting circuit breakers

The authors survey different types of contact arrangements with simple, double, and quadruple arc interruption in current-limiting low-voltage protective switching devices. The influence of the arc commutation from moving contact arm to commutation bar is discussed. A new type of rapid electromagnet with a rotating armature is presented. The performance of the electromagnet was investigated by the finite element method. The same method was used to study the configuration of the arcing chamber and the influence of different parameters on the contact repulsion forces. The experiments were carried out with the help of a capacitor bank, and the results were measured by a data acquisition system.>