Effect of component tolerances on withstand strength of vacuum interrupters

Computer modeling has been used for some time in the design of vacuum switching and fault interrupter devices. While generally useful for tweaking of existing designs, this modeling has not always been as useful as it could be in predicting the performance of newer designs, and thus tends to become more of a qualitative, rather than a quantitative study. One area of potential error in the calculation of the electric field of a vacuum interrupter is the role of the tolerance stack-up of each piece, and the potential mislocation of parts and surfaces from their ideal position as a result of this stack-up. Monte-Carlo statistical methods are used to simulate the potential effect of the component tolerances on the electric field in a vacuum interrupter, and the potential effects of this on the withstand performance of the design.