Numerical characterization of arc-induced turbulence in the vicinity of current zero
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14311/ppt.2025.2.147Keywords:
high-voltage circuit breaker, arc-induced turbulence, current zero, large-eddy simulationsAbstract
This work presents a numerical investigation of the final physical mechanism responsible for the thermal interruption of the plasma arc in high-voltage circuit breakers, i.e. turbulence, and its interaction with the arc itself in the vicinity of current zero (CZ). In this context, an experiment in which an arc is ignited between two stationary electrode rods, and it is maintained steadily inside a Teflon de Laval nozzle by applying a 2 kA constant current is reproduced. The results show that the three-dimensional instabilities observed experimentally to develop in the arc boundary layer around CZ are only a product of the interaction between the hot arc and its surrounding cold flow, and that no magnetic effects nor magnetic-related instabilities are required for turbulence to develop and grow.
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