Model for High Current Arc in Generator Circuit Breaker

• Research unit: INNOSUISSE
• Project number: 7399.1;6 EPRP-IW

Short description (English)

Model for High Current Arc in Generator Circuit Breaker

Abstract (English)

The simulation of high current plasma arcs is a challenging on-going problem. A new numerical approach to the simulation of such an arc will be developed, based on the coupling of a Lagrangian method to track the movement of charged particles with electromagnetic field computation and a solver for compressible fluid.The ultimate goal is to obtain a full three dimensional simulation and a comprehensive validation of the new simulation code through the comparison with experiments and other simulations that rely on a magnetohydrodynamic conservation law formulation.The code will be applied to study the behaviour of high current plasma arcs in generator circuit breakers, in particular to predict the pressure build-up in the arcing chamber.