Study of Anode Surface State and Anode Temperature Distribution After Current Zero for Different AMF-Contact Systems

The aim of the work is comparison of the state of anode surface of different AMF contact systems during arcing and after arc extinction. Arcs were ignited by opening of electrodes and were fed by half-sine current pulses with durations of 10 ms. CuCr electrodes were used. Investigations were performed in the range of arc currents from successfully interrupted ones up to the levels of guaranteed failure if transient recovery voltage was applied. The measurements were implemented by a high-speed Phantom M310 video camera equipped with a Carl Zeiss 100/2 macro lens. The anode surface temperature distribution just after current zero was obtained by comparison of the results of anode surface filming and the results of calibrated band-lamp filming in identical conditions. The filming was carried out using an interference filter. The anode surface state during the arcing was studied using the set of dense neutral filters. Obtained results provide the possibility to suggest a hypothesis about the causes of failure of the investigated contact systems at extreme currents.