Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 June 2001
It is necessary for the optimum design of arc quenchingchamber in the molded case circuit breakers to analyze magneticforce acting on the arc in the chamber. The magnetic blowoutforces and the distribution of magnetic field induced by arccurrent depend on the shape, arrangement, and kinds of material ofgrids in the chamber. The effective method to design V-slottediron grid in the arc quenching chamber is discussed in this paper.The magnetic blowout force and flux density were obtained by usingthe 3-D finite element method considering non-linearity of irongrids. The grid model designed optimally was also verified bymeans of the interruption performances test. It is shown that ourdesign method is a useful tool for design of arc quenching chamberin the circuit breakers.
This paper has been presented atNUMELEC 2000.