FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH ON VACUUM INTERRUPTERS AT TECHNICAL UNIVERSITIESIN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA

This paper reviews the main activities in the field of vacuum interrup ters carried out by the authors' research groups at Technical Universi ties in Germany and Austria. A wide field of dielectric problems has m ainly been treated at Vienna, Braunschweig, and Darmstadt. Work concer ning arc modes and motion is reported from Vienna, Aachen, and Braunsc hweig. Questions of current zero at line frequency and high frequency have been the object of research projects at Braunschweig, and choppin g characteristics were investigated there and also in Vienna. In many investigations, the influence of contact material has been of great im portance in all these studies.