ARE ROOT MOBILITY DURING CONTACT OPENING AT HIGH-CURRENT

This paper presents a test system, designed for the investigation of s hort circuit arcs related to miniature circuit breakers operating in a 240 V, ac supply. An optical fiber imaging system is used to identify are root motion, with short circuit current up to 6 kA, Two methods a re used to measure contact motion, a noncontact linear position sensor , and the optical fiber array, The optical fiber array uses software i mage processing to identify the position of the are roots in the are c hamber. The identification of the are roots allows for a study of the are immobility at the initial stages of the event. Results are present ed on variation of peak current level and are runner materials on are root motion for one geometry, The cathode root motion is shown to domi nate the event.