Abstract-This paper presents experimental research into the behavior of short circuit break arcs ignited between opening contacts. The investigation is applied to arc chamber geometries commonly used in miniature circuit breakers (MCB). The movement of the anode and cathode roots are individually plotted from optical data, allowing the relative motion to be compared. The effect of a range of MCB configurations on the arc root motion has been investigated. The experiment was configured so that the fixed contact was always the cathode. The results show that the two arc roots do not move away from the contact region simultaneously. Often the cathode root moved off the fixed contact and away from the contact region before the anode root commutated from the moving contact. The delay in anode root commutation leads to a delayed cathode root movement. These events are explained in terms of arc root emission processes.

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This paper presents the initial stage of a 3D finite element (FE) model of the electromagnetic field in the arc chamber of a current limiting miniature circuit breaker (MCB). The final objective of the model is to compute the magnetic forces on the arc, and predict the position of the arc at a series of discrete time steps. The trajectory of the arc calculated from the model will then be compared with experimental data recorded by a high speed arc imaging system (AIS) on a flexible test apparatus (FTA) designed to simulate the operation of a commercial MCB under laboratory conditions. By comparing the FE model of the arc behaviour with the actual arc images generated from the AIS an insight into the factors governing the motion of the arc can be gained. In particular the relative importance of the average flux density across the arc chamber is compared with the local flux density distribution at the arc roots. An understanding of the influence of the magnetic flux distribution can then be used to improve the magnetic design of the MCB to promote low immobility times and effective current limiting operation.

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