Spectroscopic investigations of the ablated species from the polymers exposed to electric arcs in air

Polymeric walls have been widely used in the last decades to improve the arc interruption process in electrical switching applications. This improvement is achieved by the evaporation (ablation) of the polymeric walls due to the highly energetic radiation generated by the electrical arcs. This experimental study deals with polymeric walls that are exposed to the electrical arcs generated between a 5 mm air gap with prospective current of 1.4 kA. In this paper, two different techniques are discussed aiming at the identification of the dominant ablated species produced during the arc interruption process, namely Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Thermogravimetric analysis coupled with Fourier transform infrared analysis of evolved gases (EGA). In addition, the morphological and chemical changes on the surface of the exposed polymeric walls are analyzed by microscopical techniques.