THE INFLUENCE OF THE TOPOLOGY OF TEST CIRCUITS ON THE INTERRUPTING PERFORMANCE OF CIRCUIT-BREAKERS

High-voltage circuit breakers are tested in the High Power Laboratory where transient recovery voltages (TRVs) are generated by networks con sisting of lumped elements. In the DEC and ANSI standards the TRV wave forms are described, but not the topology of the test circuits. This p aper compares different direct TRV test circuits which generate the sa me initial part of the TRV waveform. It is demonstrated that the surge impedance of the TRV test circuit is an important parameter. The diff erence in interrupting performance of the TB in the test circuits with the different surge impedances is caused by the influence of the are- circuit interaction.