Fundamental Investigation of Discharge-Induced Fire from Damaged Ac Power Supply Cord

Unintentional discharge occurring from electrically and/or mechanically damaged power supply cords can cause a fire. It is difficult to detect the event with a conventional circuit breaker. To fabricate a reliable safety device for preventing fires, the better understanding of the phenomenon is essential. The aim of this fundamental work is to clarify physical mechanisms how the combustibles around a damaged power supply cord ignites. Using power supply cords in which some element conductors are disconnected deliberately, ignition of combustibles is reproduced in laboratory. It is suggested that arc discharge is the origin of the ignition, which is followed by short circuit of disconnected element conductors or disconnection of intact element conductors.