A method to analyze the short-time withstand current capability for air circuit breaker

A method to analyze the short-time withstand current for air circuit breaker (ACB) is presented. The cylindrical contact bridge is adopted to describe the current constriction between the movable and fixed contacts, and then the corresponding electromagnetic force and temperature rise of the contacts are calculated. Finally, the short-time withstand current capability could be evaluated based on the temperature rise of the contacts. In addition, the influence of the number of the contacts, the contact force and contact size on the short-time withstand current capability is analyzed.