Influence of a Short-Duration Arc on the Erosion and Dielectric Strength of Narrow Air-Gap Contacts in a Hybrid DC Switch

Contact erosion and dielectric strength reduction due to arc discharge are critical problems, particularly for dc switches and circuit breakers. Long-duration arcs not only cause serious contact erosion but also reduce the dielectric strength of the contact gap. A hybrid dc switch composed of a mech...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on components, packaging, and manufacturing technology (2011) packaging, and manufacturing technology (2011), 2019-06, Vol.9 (6), p.1068-1074
Main Authors: Ou, Chomrong, Nakayama, Ryo, Zen, Shungo, Yasuoka, Koichi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air gaps
Arc discharges
Breakdown
Bridge circuits
Capacitors
Cathodes
Circuit breakers
Contact erosion
Contact resistance
Contacts
Dielectric strength
Direct current
Electric arcs
Electric contacts
Electric fields
Electronic switching systems
Erosion mechanisms
Erosion resistance
High voltages
hybrid dc switch (HDCS)
MOSFETs
Parallel connected
Piezoelectric actuators
Repair & maintenance
short-duration arc
Switches
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Summary:Contact erosion and dielectric strength reduction due to arc discharge are critical problems, particularly for dc switches and circuit breakers. Long-duration arcs not only cause serious contact erosion but also reduce the dielectric strength of the contact gap. A hybrid dc switch composed of a mechanical switch (MS) and a semiconductor device can drastically decrease the duration of the arc compared to a conventional MS. This paper aims to examine the influence of short-duration arcs on the contact erosion and dielectric strength in a hybrid dc switch. A dc current of up to 800 A is flown through copper contacts that are connected in parallel with a SiC-MOSFET. An arc discharge is formed between the contacts just after they are opened. Then, a pulsed high voltage is applied between the contacts to measure the breakdown strength of the contacts. A piezo actuator opens the contacts, which have a gap length of 300~\mu \text{m} . When the dc current is increased from 200 to 800 A, the arc duration increases from 4 to 14~\mu \text{s} and causes surface erosion and lengthened protrusions. The contact resistance does not increase. However, the breakdown electric field is decreased.
ISSN:2156-3950
2156-3985
DOI:10.1109/TCPMT.2019.2904616