Contact Erosion in High Voltage Circuit Breakers

During current interruption in the high voltage circuit breaker, the contacts are eroded due to high temperature in the arc zone. This may influence the lifetime of the breaker and even current interruption process. Although there are many parameters that influence contact erosion, the work presented in this paper focuses on the shape of the contact. The change in flow pattern due to the change in shape of the contact and its correlation with the erosion is presented. In addition to this, the contribution of the radiation and the convective heat flux has been quantified, and measures for reducing the contact erosion have been discussed.