Influence of arc duration and current on contact welding in low power switches

Author

Neuhaus, Alexander R. ; Rieder, Werner F. ; Hammerschmidt, Martin

Author_Institution

Inst. of Power Syst. & Energy Econ., Vienna Univ. of Technol., Wien, Austria

fYear

2002

fDate

2002

Firstpage

17

Lastpage

20

Abstract

A model test switch has been developed to investigate the influence of kinetic parameters (as contact velocity and contact force) on contact welding under conditions prevailing in relays, micro switches etc. Both frequency and intensity of the statistically scattered weld forces increased with increasing arc duration and current. Pre-strike and bounce arcs show identical results under corresponding conditions. Therefore, the configuration of the load circuit determining the actual arc current curve essentially influences the weld force values.

Keywords

arcs (electric); electric current; electrical contacts; relays; reliability; switches; welding; arc current curves; bounce arcs; contact force; contact velocity; load circuit configuration; load conditions; low power switch contact welding; micro switches; model test switches; pre-strike arcs; relays; reliability; statistically scattered weld force frequency/intensity; switch arc duration/current influence; switch kinetic parameters; weld force values; Circuit testing; Contacts; Force measurement; Power system economics; Power system modeling; Power system relaying; Springs; Switches; Switching circuits; Welding;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Contacts, 2002. Proceedings of the Forty-Eighth IEEE Holm Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7433-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/HOLM.2002.1040817

Filename

1040817