An Arc Study at High DC Current Levels in Automotive Applications

In order to fulfill the increasing electric power needs in automobiles and to satisfy new environmental requirements and security, the currently used 14 VDC electrical power systems must either supply higher currents (up to 100 A) or be changed to 42 V. Considering the difficulties of operating with this new 42 V system, we have focused our interests on higher currents by extending our previous 14 VDC study. The arc parameters such as break arc duration and extinction gap for different materials and circuit loads are investigated. We have established that these main arc parameters are greatly influenced by load (inductance) and contact materials. The behavior of the material is investigated according to the composition, oxide content, and doping agent in silver. As found for low currents, the material transfer direction from the anode to the cathode is maintained at high current and neither opposite transfer direction or bilateral erosion was observed.