Automated Measuring Methods for Discharge Durations and Energy in Electrical Contacts

Contact phenomena are very complicated, and the measured data are scattered in wide range. Therefore, a large volume of data is required to analyze the contact phenomena. At this time, some new fully automated methods for the measurements of discharge are described. Next, the measuring method for arc duration and arc energy is shown. The photo electron multiplier tube is used for this purpose. The arc duration shall be measured by a certain number of pulses which pass the gate circuit. The pulses are produced by the constant frequency oscillator. The arc duration can be measured by counting the number of pulses at the output of the photo electron multiplier tube. On the other hand, the output of the photo electron multiplier tube is put into amplifier, and the output of amplifiers is integrated by the integrator. The output of the integrator, which is counted by pulse height analyzer, can be used to obtain the arc energy. Some experimental results of the relation between arc energy and contact current measured by this equipment are shown. Examples of experimental results of energy spectrum of electrical contact arc energy are also shown. The accumulated arc duration times and arc energy are obtained by this equipment automatically. Also, other fully automated measuring equipment for the measuring of arc durations, which consists mainly of integrated circuits, are studied, and one piece of fully automated equipment for the measuring of arc energy, which consists