Model of Electrical Performance Degradation and Remaining Life Prediction for DC Circuit Breaker Based on Arc Erosion
Li Kui1,2, Zhang Jiekai1,2, Guo Ze1,2, Niu Feng1,2, You Yingmin3
1. State Key Laboratory of Reliability and Intelligence of Electrical Equipment Hebei University of Technology Tianjin 300130 China; 2. Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Field and Electrical Apparatus Reliability of Hebei Province Hebei University of Technology Tianjin 300130 China; 3. Yueqing Institute of Industry Wenzhou University Wenzhou 325000 China
Abstract：As key power equipment for protecting the DC system, the DC circuit breaker’s reliability and safety are crucial for the stable operation of the power grid. This paper proposes arc voltage equivalent simulation and contact electrical wear calculation. The degradation law for the electrical performance of the DC circuit breaker is investigated, and simulations are conducted to verify the consistency between the simulated and experimental results. The prediction of the residual electrical life for the DC circuit breaker is achieved. The basic data, including arc voltage and arc current, are necessary to calculate the electrical wear of contact. Thus, the typical waveform of arc voltage and arc current are investigated, and two equivalent simulation methods for arc voltage are proposed. During the current-breaking process of the DC circuit breaker, the arc continuously elongates, and consequently, the arc voltage increases. A simplification method is proposed to deal with the arc voltage with the changing rate based on the principle that the average arc voltage remains constant. Two equivalence methods for arc voltage are proposed. One assumes that the arc voltage changing rate remains constant during the breaking process, and the other assumes that the arc voltage is piecewise linear. In the case of a simple arc extinguishing chamber, the arc length increases gradually throughout the breaking process. The arc voltage is related to the arc length. Thus, the changing rate of the arc voltage can be considered as a fixed value. In the case of a complex arc extinguishing chamber structure, the changing rate of the arc voltage is markedly different before and after the arc enters the extinguishing grid. The arc voltage is considered piecewise linear, and the changing rate of the arc voltage remains the same within the same stage. The mass loss of the contact is closely related to the arcing characteristics, which can be characterized by arc voltage, arc current, arcing time, and other parameters. According to the central limit theorem, the cumulative sum of contact mass loss over segments obeys a normal distribution, and the Wiener process can be used to describe the changing process of contact mass loss. Therefore, the residual electrical life prediction model for DC circuit breakers based on arc erosion is established. Since products from the same batch share the same design and production process, the failure threshold for DC circuit breakers within the same batch is considered identical. The electrical life of a DC circuit breaker ends when the contact mass loss reaches the failure threshold. The electrical life experiment for the DC circuit breaker with a current of 126 A has been conducted. A normal distribution test for the arcing energy is performed. The arc energy is chosen as the performance degradation indicator, and the Wiener process is utilized to model the degradation process. An electrical life prediction method for the DC circuit breaker is proposed. According to the experimental data, the parameters in the Wiener process are estimated to predict the residual electrical life at various degradation stages. The prediction error is less than 10%. Due to the influence of random factors, the arc voltage changing rate and arcing time of the DC circuit breaker are subject to randomness. According to the maximum entropy principle, assume that these parameters follow a normal distribution across different operations. The Monte Carlo method generates datasets of arc voltage change rate and arcing time that adhere to the normal distribution, enabling the simulation of electrical performance degradation. As a result, the electrical life and performance degradation data of the DC circuit breaker at any given current stress level can be obtained. The results indicate that the simulation with the arc voltage equivalent simulation method is fundamentally consistent with experimental results, and the residual electrical life of the DC circuit breaker can be predicted based on the Wiener process.
李奎, 张杰凯, 郭泽, 牛峰, 游颖敏. 基于触头电弧侵蚀的直流断路器电性能退化及剩余电寿命预测[J]. 电工技术学报, 2025, 40(16): 5330-5342.
Li Kui, Zhang Jiekai, Guo Ze, Niu Feng, You Yingmin. Model of Electrical Performance Degradation and Remaining Life Prediction for DC Circuit Breaker Based on Arc Erosion. Transactions of China Electrotechnical Society, 2025, 40(16): 5330-5342.
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