The characteristics of DC arc faults current

Arc fault is of great destructiveness and can threaten the safety of electrical system. It is necessary to understand the behaviors and special characteristics of arc fault to develop devices that can detect arc faults. In this paper, the DC arc fault data are obtained via arcing tests according to SAE AS5692 and AS6019. The average value, standard deviation in time domain, spectrum in frequency domain of normal or fault current are analyzed by statistics. The results show the difference between normal and arc fault current. The relationship between the characters of fault current with resistive load in time domain and the supply voltage is also discussed. The study of DC arc fault characteristics lays theoretical foundation for the aircraft DC arc faults detection and protection.