Comparison of CFD tools for SF/sub 6/ self-blast circuit breaker development

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of high voltage SF/sub 6/ self-blast circuit breakers (CBs) have been successfully established as tools for development and design. Two different approaches modeling the physical interaction between switching arc, radiation, ablation, and gas flow are presented. Radiation is the main energy exchange mechanism; therefore, attention is paid on validation of the applied radiation modeling. A validation is given with respect to the pressure rise inside the thermal volume in comparison to the measured pressure during the test of a self-blast CB according to IEC56.