High-Current Anode Phenomena in Vacuum Arcs

The emerging interest on the application of vacuum interrupter (VI) in mediumand even high-voltage application has led to increase of comprehensive and fundamental research on VIs. Application of these interrupters is however hinderedby limitation of interrupting capability, when high-current anode phenomena occur.
The goal of the work is to investigate the high-current anode phenomena using spectroscopic methods se well as electrical measurements. Different currentwaveforms, i.e. AC and DC pulses are applied. Moreover, the impact of vacuum interrupter properties, e.g. electrode diameter and geometries, contactmaterials, opening time and opening speed on the formation of high-current anode phenomena are investigated.
The results reveal that the threshold current of the high-current anode formationis dominated by the current in case of high-frequency pulsed, whereas incase of pulsed DC, it is controlled by transferred charge.