The Impact of Pressure on Electric Arcs Switch-off

This paper presents a study on the properties of an electric arc under 540 V DC supply voltage in sub-atmospheric pressure. In the first part, we present research regarding the influence of various parameters on the extinction properties of the arc (arc energy, arc duration, extinction gap, etc.) on a simple configuration. In the second part, we focus on switch-off tests undertaken at sub-atmospheric pressure carried out using an industrial device that operates reliably at atmospheric pressure and under voltage conditions comparable to those encountered in the aircraft of the future (540 V DC).