Research on Axial Magnetic Field Characteristics of a Novel Magnetic Field Enhanced Slotted Horseshoe Contact

In this paper, a novel slotted contact plate structure for horseshoe contact was proposed, which could strengthen the bipolar axial magnetic field (AMF) of the contact significantly. The objective of this paper is to determine the AMF characteristics of the novel horseshoe contact. The contact diameter was 120 mm. The contact material was CuCr50 (50% Cr). The contact gap ranged from 10 to 50 mm. The current was up to 40 kA rms and current frequency was 50 Hz. Based on magnetic field simulation, the AMF characteristics of the novel horseshoe contact was determined and compared with that of the traditional horseshoe contact. The results indicated that the novel horseshoe contact had a better axial magnetic field than that of the traditional horseshoe contact. Under the arc current level of 40 kA rms and the contact gap of 40 mm, the enhanced AMF horseshoe contact had a maximum axial magnetic field of 346 mT at peak current, much higher than the 122 mT of the traditional horseshoe contact. For the results, the novel slotted contact plate structure significantly improves the AMF characteristics of the contacts.