Analyses of mechanical characteristics of vacuum circuit breaker during the closing process taking electrodynamic force into account

A dynamic model for the closing process of a medium-voltage vacuum circuit breaker (MWCB) is constructed, and the automatic dynamic analysis of mechanical system software is applied to construct the model by taking electrodynamic force into account. After the electrodynamic force is worked out, the model is employed to investigate the mechanical characteristics during the closing process of a MWCB under the influence of electrodynamic force. The characteristics are also investigated through experiment. Moreover, the simulation and experimental results are in close agreement. The results show that the electrodynamic force not only reduces the moving speed of the main axle´s angle to a certain degree but also influences the four parameters used to describe the performance of mechanical characteristics. The simulation and experimental results presented here can be used to highlight the design criteria on the optimal operation and condition monitoring of MWCBs.