The Discharge Development and Arc Modes in Vacuum at A Long Gap Distance in Vacuum Interrupters

The influence of an arc current on the discharge development and the arc modes of a single coil type axial magnetic field （AMF） electrode were investigated by a high-speed charge couple device （CCD） video camera in a long gap distance of 40 mm. The distribution of the axial magnetic field of the single coil type AMF electrode was computed. By computational results, the single coil type AMF electrode could generate higher axial magnetic flux density than the slot type AMF electrode. It was found that the single coil type AMF electrode could perform better than the slot type AMF electrode with the same designing parameters. And the development of the arc modes experienced diffuse mode, constricted but unstable mode, and constricted and stable mode with the amplitude of the arc current increasing. The correlation between the vacuum arc and the noise components of arc voltage was investigated too. The interruption capability could be known in a practical commercial vacuum interrupter by the test results in a demountable vacuum interrupter （DVC） with a electrode diameter of 50 mm and a gap distance of 40 mm.The test results could provide reference to design the high voltage vacuum interrupter adopting the single coil type AMF electrode.     

Arc Behaviours in Vacuum Interrupters with Axial Magnetic Field Electrodes

To improve the limiting current interruption capability and minimizing vacuum interrupter with axial magnetic field （AMF） electrodes, it is significant to investigate the vacuum arc behaviours between the contacts. AMF distributions of the slot type electrodes were studied by both numerical analysis and experiments. Furthermore, the behaviours of vacuum arcs for different parameters of the slot type AMF electrodes were investigated by using high-speed CCD camera. The influences of gap distance, contact diameter and phase shift time between AMF and arc current on the vacuum arc were investigated. The results provide a reference for research and development of vacuum interrupters with slot type or other types of AMF electrode.     

Investigation on X-Radiation for 126 kV Vacuum Interrupters

When subjected to high voltages between opened contacts,vacuum interrupters may emit X-rays.In order to ensure that these are of an acceptable level,vacuum interrupters should comply with the limits for X-ray emission and the test procedures to be carried out to verify this based on relevant standards and specifications.In this paper,a comprehensive experimental study has been performed for 126 kV vacuum interrupters used in a transmission system to understand the X-radiation level and its influence by three main parameters,namely applied power-frequency voltage,contact gap and power-frequency voltage conditioning.The radiation instrument is an FJ347 radiometer and the X-radiation dose was measured at the power-frequency test voltage.These tests demonstrated that the X-radiation emission level for a 126 kV vacuum interrupter did not exceed the following:5 μSv per hour at a rated voltage of 126 kV and 150 μSv per hour at a power-frequency voltage of 230 kV at 1 m distance.The X-radiation dose increased with the applied power-frequency voltage increasing and decreased with the contact gap increasing.The Xradiation dose for 126 kV vacuum interrupters decreased by 57%after the conditioning procedure with a certain power-frequency voltage.During the conditioning procedure,the average value of the X-radiation dose was 4.49 mSv,which means if a professional conditions 180 interrupters per year,it will be safe at the 6.4 m distance.     

Study of Distortion of a Vacuum Arc at a Long-Gap Distance

Experimental study of the long-gap distance vacuum arc distortion for three types of axial magnetic field (AMF) contacts, by using high-speed charge coupled device (CCD), is presented. The arc current was of a half-cycle sine wave with a frequency of 50Hz, produced by an L-C discharging circuit. The time of appearance and duration of vacuum arc distortion under three conditions were studied. It was found that the gap distance, current and diameter of the electrode affected the characteristics of vacuum distortion at a long-gap distance. Some characteristics of the vacuum arc at a long-gap distance was revealed and the experience and data for further investigation were provided.     

Investigation of Vacuum Arc Voltage Characteristics Under Different Axial Magnetic Field Profiles

Characteristics of the arc voltage under different profiles of axial magnetic field were investigated experimentally in a detachable vacuum chamber with five pairs of specially designed electrodes generating both bell-shaped and saddle-shaped mafnetic field profile. The arc column and cathode spot images were photographed by a high speed digital camera. The dependence of the arc voltage on arcing evolution is analyzed. It is indicated that the axial magnetic field profile could affect the arc behaviors significantly, and the arc voltage is closely related to the arc light intensity.     

Interruption Phenomenon in Intermediate-Frequency Vacuum Arc

In the condition of the 3 mm gap, experiments for 360 Hz intermediate-frequency vacuum arc are carried out in interrupters with the diameters being 41 mm and with the contact materials being CuCr50 and Cu-W-WC alloy respectively. The results indicate that the contacts material is closely related to the breaking capacity of the vacuum interrupters and characteristics of an intermediate-frequency vacuum arc. For contacts with the same diameter, the breaking capacity of CuCr50 is better than that of Cu-W-WC. When the current fails to be interrupted, the arcs overflow the gap and present irregular performances in the first half wave. Consequently a voltage spike appears. More macroscopic metal droplets can be seen in the arc column between CuCr50 contacts because of the lower melting point. It is observed that the droplet emission is much more severe during arc reignition than that in the first half wave. It is much more conspicuous that the high frequency arc voltage noises appear in Cu-W-WC contacts when the vacuum arcs reignite, for higher temperature and stronger electronic emission ability of Cu-W-WC contacts.     

Influce of Initial Opening Speed on Characteristics of a Drawn Vacuum Arc

Influence of the initial opening speed on the characteristics of drawn vacuum arcs for axial magnetic field(MF) vacuum interrupters (VIs) is studied using a high-speed charge- coupled device (CCD) camera. Two values of initial opening speed, 0.5 m/s and 1.5 m/s, were set to make a comparative study. The cup-type electrode was made of Cu-Cr (50%-50% in weight) with a diameter of 30 mm and a gap distance between electrodes of 10 mm. The results show that the transition time decreases by 0.5 ms when the initial opening speed increases from 0.5 m/s to 1.5 m/s at a peak current of 2.5 kA, while the transition time decreases by 1.0 ms when the initial opening speed increases from 0.5 m/s to 1.5 m/s at a peak current of 5.0 kA. The reason why the duration of the transition arc mode decreases is that the e®ect of electromagnetic force and Coulomb force among arcs is increased when the initial opening speed increases.     

Influence of Jet Angle and Ion Density of Cathode Side on Low Current Vacuum Arc Characteristics

In this study, the influence of the initial jet angles （IJAs） and ion number densities （INDs） at the cathode side on the low current vacuum arc （LCVA） characteristics is simulated and analysed. The results show that the ion temperature, electron temperature, ion number density, axial current density and plasma pressure all decrease with the increase of the cathode IJAs. It is also shown that LCVA can cause a current constriction for lower cathode IND, and the anode sheath potential is more nonuniform, which is mainly related to the nonuniform distribution of the axial current density at the anode side.     

Motion and Splitting of Vacuum Arc Column in Transverse Magnetic Field Contacts at Intermediate—Frequency

Arc motion and splitting of vacuum arc at intermediate frequency（400-800 Hz） were investigated under transverse magnetic field（TMF）.The experiment was performed on cup-type TMF contacts with contact diameter of 40 mm and a contact gap of 4 mm in a single-frequency circuit.With high-speed photography we characterized the arc appearance at different arc currents from 3.3 kA-rms to 10 kA-rms at intermediate frequencies.As arc current increases from3.3 kA-rms to 10 kA-rms the arc appearance changes obviously.When current value is 3.3 kArms（current frequency 400-800 Hz）,there is almost no splitting arc;when the current exceeds5 kA-rms（current frequency 400-800 Hz）,the arc rotates at a speed above 20 m/s,accompanied by an observable splitting arc.The splitting arc could be observed at different frequencies and the arc-voltage had no noises when splitting occurred.The motion direction and the velocity of arc column were studied.Finally,the formation of a split arc was discussed.     

The Dynamic Volt-Ampere Characteristics of a Vacuum Arc at Intermediate-Frequency Under a Transverse Magnetic Field

In this study, the changes of a vacuum arc’s appearance were observed and the volt-ampere characteristics of the vacuum arc at intermediate frequency were analyzed under a transverse magnetic field (TMF). The TMF and phase shift time were calculated by using the TMF contact model and the large phase shift of the magnetic field at a higher frequency was conductive to the dispersion process of residual plasma. The arc velocity was higher at 800 Hz than at 400 Hz. It can be inferred that TMF will encourage arc movement at 800 Hz. Moreover, the arc movement has an impact on the arc voltage. Because of the increasing length of the arc column with a high arc velocity, the elongated arc causes the arc voltage to increase. Specifically, the volt-ampere characteristics of the vacuum arc are divided into three stages in this paper. The higher the frequency, the greater the initial rate of rise in the arc voltage and the larger the area surrounded by arc volt-ampere characteristics. The correlations between the arc voltage and the amplitude and frequency of the current are also presented.     

Numerical Simulation of Low Current Vacuum Arc Supersonic Flow

Based on a two-dimensional axisymmetric magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model, low current vacuum arc （LCVA） characteristics are studied. The influence of cathode process under different axial magnetic fields and different anode radii on LCVA characteristics is also simulated. The results show that the influence of both cathode process and anode radii on LCVA is significant. The sign of anode sheath potentials can change from negative to positive with the decrease of anode radii. The simulation results are in part verified by experimental results. Especially, as the effect of ion kinetic energy is considered, ion temperature is improved significantly; which is in agreement with experimental results.     

Distribution of Cathode Spots in Vacuum Arc Under Nonuniform Axial Magnetic Fields

Recent results on the distribution of vacuum arc cathode spots （CSs） in nonuniform axial magnetic field （AMF） are presented. Based on previous studies, we deem that two contrary influences of AMF, inward effect and outward effect, are attributed to CSs distribution. With this notion, we have analyzed the controlling effectiveness of nonuniform AMF on CSs distribution. Experiments were conducted in a detachable vacuum chamber with iron-style AMF electrodes. Images of vacuum arc column and the distribution of CSs were photographed with a high-speed charge coupled device （CCD） camera. Experimental results agreed well with the theoretical analysis.     

真空弧离子源引出束流在加速空间的分布

采用数码相机直接照相的方法来确定真空弧离子源引出束流在加速空间的分布。实验在动态真空实验系统中进行,系统真空度优于2×10-3 Pa。在离子源脉冲工作的条件下,采用数码相机拍摄到离子源引出束流在加速空间的积分图像,得到引出束流的幅亮度在拍摄平面上的相对分布,然后再通过Abel转换得到引出束流在加速空间的径向分布。实验结果表明:真空弧离子源引出束流近似高斯分布,离子源出口处的束流比靶入口处的束流强40%。     

Formation of Multicharged Metal Ions in Vacuum Arc Plasma Heated by Gyrotron Radiation

A new method for the generation of high charged state metal ion beams is developed. This method is based on microwave heating of vacuum arc plasma in a magnetic...     

Radial and Angular Resolved Langmuir Probe Diagnosis of a Pulsed Vacuum Arc Plasma

Vacuum arc ion sources are known for delivering high currents of ion beams in many technological applications. There is a great need in the present ion accelera...     

Simulation Research of Magnetic Constriction Effect and Controlling by Axial Magnetic Field of Vacuum Arc

Based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of vacuum arc, the computer simulation of vacuum arc was carried out in this paper. In the MHD model, mass conservation equation, momentum conservation equations, energy conservation equations, generalized ohm‘s law and Maxwell equation were considered. MHD equations were calculated by numerical method, and the distribution of vacuum arc plasma parameters and current density were obtained. Simulation results showed that the magnetic constriction effect of vacuum arc is primarily caused by the Hall effect. In addition, the inhibition of axial magnetic field (AMF) on constriction of vacuum arc was calculated and analyzed.     

氢化钛镍合金阴极真空弧放电离子特性研究

本文将氢化钛镍合金材料应用于强流长脉冲（200 A/270 μs）真空弧放电实验中,该材料能在强流长脉冲真空弧放电产生的高温条件下保持较好的稳定性。使用飞行时间谱仪获得了氢化钛镍合金阴极真空弧放电产生的离子电荷态分布和离子成分。结果表明：Tiⁿ⁺和Niⁿ⁺电荷态为1+、2+和3+,在放电过程的早期（0~30 μs）,H⁺成分随时间逐渐增加,在30 μs时达到最大比例57%,而Tiⁿ⁺和Niⁿ⁺（n=1,2,3）离子成分随时间逐渐减少,在30 μs时达到最小比例43%;在放电过程的后期（30~270 μs）,H⁺成分迅速下降且在75 μs后保持在总离子流的12%左右直至放电结束,Tiⁿ⁺和Niⁿ⁺（n=1,2,3）含量随时间逐步增加,且在75 μs后保持在总离子流的88%左右直至放电结束。     

过滤管道磁场在改进真空弧沉积系统中的作用

在90°磁过滤管道和MEVVA源阴极之间加30～60V的正偏压可使磁过滤管道起到阴极弧放电第二阳极的作用.在此情况下,就磁过滤管道磁场对MEVVA源阳极-阴极和磁过滤管道-阴极两个回路弧放电和磁过滤管道等离子体传输效率的影响进行了实验研究.研究结果表明随磁过滤磁场升高,磁过滤管道和阴极之间的弧放电规模降低,系统的等离子体传输效率升高,但对MEVVA源阳极和阴极之间的弧放电规模影响不大.     

Impact of the Insulator on the Electric Field and Generation Characteristics of Vacuum Arc Metal Plasmas

The field electron emission plays a vital role in the process of vacuum discharge breakdown. The electric field strength at the cathode tip is significant to the generation char- acteristics of vacuum arc metal plasmas. To increase the field strength at the cathode tip, a coaxial electrode plasma source was employed with an insulator settled between the electrodes. The math expression of the field strength is derived based on the Gauss theory. The impact of the insulator on the electric field and parameters of plasmas were investigated by MAXWELL 3D simulation software and the Langmuir probe. In addition, a composite insulator was adopted to further strengthen the field strength. A series of experiments were performed to focus on the role of the composite insulator in detail. The experimental and simulation results indicate that, a reasonable layout of the insulator, especially the composite insulator, can effectively increase the field strength at the cathode tip and the plasma density.