Abstract The metal contacts provide the conductive medium needed to maintain the vacuum metal vapor. Therefore, the distribution of metal vapor affects the whole process of arc plasma formation. The conductive contact thermal process and gap breakdown process after the rupture of the molten metal bridge at the initial moment of contact parting are unified in the simulation. On the base of heat conduction equation and considering the phase transition process of the contact, the non-uniform distribution of metal vapor in the minimum space is obtained. Vacuum microscopic particle dynamics model is established under the influence of non-uniform distribution of metal vapor. The transport equations of electron and heavy particle are solved to reveal the arc formation process. Simulation results indicate that the metal vapor density produced by the phase transition of conductive contact is non-uniform distribution in the space, which is rapidly attenuated along the radial direction from the center. On account of the non-uniform distribution of metal vapor, the arc formation process goes through three stages: electron avalanche development, polar-region formation and initial conduction channel. The formation of vacuum gap conductive channel depends on the location of metal vapor density region.
Fu Si,Cao Yundong,Li Jing等. Simulation Researches on Vacuum Metal Vapor Arc Formation at the Initial Moment of Contact Parting[J]. Transactions of China Electrotechnical Society, 2020, 35(13): 2922-2931.
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2020, Vol. 35 
