Anode Activity in a High-Current Vacuum Arc: Three-Dimensional Modeling and Simulation

Author

Wang, Lijun ; Zhou, Xin ; Wang, Haijing ; Qian, Zhonghao ; Jia, Shenli ; Yang, Dingge ; Shi, Zongqian

Author_Institution

State Key Lab. of Electr. Insulation & Power Equip., Xi´´an Jiaotong Univ., Xi´´an, China

Volume

40

Issue

9

fYear

2012

Firstpage

2237

Lastpage

2246

Abstract

In this paper, a transient 3-D model of the anode activity in a high-current vacuum arc (HCVA) was established. The melting, flow, evaporation, and solidification of the anode material were included in this model. Based on this model, the thermal and flow process of the anode in an HCVA under axial magnetic fields was simulated and analyzed. Simulation results showed that the maximum anode temperature appeared near 7 ms. The maximum rotational velocity and melting radius appeared near 9 ms. This meant that the anode was still in the melting, flow, and evaporation status near current zero moment, which was easier to cause reignition of vacuum interruption. Through 3-D modeling and simulation, a more visualized anode process can be understood. In the future, unsymmetrical anode phenomena will be researched and analyzed by this 3-D model.

Keywords

anodes; arcs (electric); evaporation; melting; plasma flow; plasma simulation; plasma transport processes; solidification; anode activity; anode flow process; anode material evaporation; anode material solidification; anode thermal process; axial magnetic fields; high-current vacuum arc; maximum rotational velocity; melting process; three-dimensional model; three-dimensional simulation; transient 3-D model; unsymmetrical anode phenomena; Anodes; Equations; Interrupters; Magnetic liquids; Mathematical model; Solid modeling; Vacuum arcs; Anode activity; high-current vacuum arc; simulation; three-dimensional modeling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2012.2205590

Filename

6246713