EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ARC PROPERTIES OF VACUUM INTERRUPTERS WITH HORSESHOE ELECTRODE, 4 POLE ELECTRODE, AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

By using ferromagnetic material around electrode to generate strong no nuniform magnetic fields, the vacuum arcs can be kept in well defined diffuse mode or multiple arc mode. As a result, the are voltage is low and stable, the current is confined in certain areas, high interrupti ng ability and small size are achieved by using this principle. The di fferent arc modes with different electrode, the are voltage versus arc current for flat electrodes, horseshoe, and four pole electrode, and the vacuum arc distribution are measured. The criteria of choices of e lectrode diameter and electrode distance are given in this paper.