An Active Limit Baffle for the Phenomenon of Arc Instability and Re-ignition

The arc instability and re-ignition refers to the arc cannot maintain a stable state or the arc extinguished but re-burn quickly. When a normally open relay releases, its movable contact, static contact, as well as their reeds are free, especially the movable contact of which energy cannot be dissipated immediately. In this case, the contacts will experience a short period with sharply swing that will cause the contact gap change periodically and the arc burns unsteadily. By conducting plenty of experiments, the failure mode and the failure principle are proven to be arc reigniting with contact welding. We introduce a method of an active baffle that the backwards extend of the spring can be limited effectively. Finally, we confirm arc erosion alleviation with Scanning Electron Microscope.