4th International Conference on Electric Power Equipment– Switching Technology (ICEPE-2017)

513 / 2017-05-11 09:30:06

Simulation investigation on influence of arc chamber structure into interrupting arc characteristics by Fluent

14001,14000,13999,13998

In low-voltage electric apparatus structure of arc chamber is an important factor for arc interrupting characteristics. Especially the widely used magnetic metal splitters have significant effect in the interrupting process. Because of discontinuous boundary between magnetic material and air, it’s difficult to establish MHD model and causes non-convergence problem. In this study Fluent software is applied as multiple physical simulation tool to establish MHD model for interrupting arc. The effects of ferromagnetic material and self-exciting magnetic field of arc are considered, and the arc separating process isn’t taken into account. By varying shape of splitters and location of vent, the arc interrupting process in short-circuit current is simulated and the results are convergent. The results of simulation and experiment show that the optimized structure of arc chamber can obviously accelerate arc moving and increase arc voltage before arc separating process.