Effect of space charge on electric field for a vacuum interrupter

Abstract

In this paper, for reflecting the distribution of electric field with post-arc charged particles, the electric field model based on the variation of the space charges of a vacuum interrupter has been established and calculated using the finite element method (FEM). In computing, the effects of floating shield and Hick open boundary on the charged electric field distribution have been taken into considerations, respectively. The distributions of electric field varying with the different distribution of space charges within the region of the contacts and between the contacts and floating shielding cover after current zero. have been clearly reflected. By comparison with different simulation results, the influence of space charges on the distribution of electric field during the breaking of vacuum interrupter has been studied and illustrated in this paper.