Investigation on the Arc Phenomenon of Air DC Circuit Breaker

Comparison analysis on the arc phenomenon of an air dc circuit breaker both in the resistive and inductive circuit was conducted in this paper. It is an interesting phenomenon that severe restrikes occurred in the resistive circuit. According to the results, the reason is that the arc current falls sharply witbreak the rise of arc voltage in the resistive circuit so that the lack of the Lorentz force and the pressure difference before and behind the arc made the hot gas move back toward the entrance of the arc chamber.