Research on Intermediate-frequency Vacuum Arc and Voltage Characteristics of Sinusoidal Curved Contact

In this paper, a new type of contact structure for vacuum interrupters, sinusoidal surface contact, is proposed, and its vacuum arc characteristics at intermediate frequency are studied. Then the arc mode evolution, arc voltage characteristics, arc energy, breaking performance, the ablation of anode contact and arc product condensation ability of the sinusoidal curved contact and the plate contact with the same contact diameter (41mm) and the material are compared and analyzed under small open distance. The correlations between the arc energy and the amplitude and frequency of the current and the influence of the arc energy on the breaking capacity are achieved. The results showed that the sinusoidal curved contact has strong application potential by its lower arc energy, lower arc voltage noise and arc voltage peak, lighter ablation on the surface of the anode contact and splash, stronger breaking capacity.