642
4, AUGUST 1997
Dielectric Recovery of Copper Chromium Vacuum
Interrupter Contacts After Short-Circuit Interruption
Eduard Huber, Klaus Fröhlich, Senior Member, IEEE, and R. Grill
Abstract— The recovery of a vacuum interrupter gap after
short-circuit interruption was measured by application of an
overshooting transient recovery voltage (TRV) several tens of
microseconds after current zero. Copper chromium contact ma-
terials were employed varying in composition (25 and 50%
chromium content), gas content, and production method. The gap
failure was either pure dielectric or it was dominated by a signifi-
cant postarc current. Therefore, postarc current phenonema were
experimentally investigated focused on the relationship among the
postarc current, the power frequency current amplitude, and the
gap length. It was found that two postarc current maxima exist:
the first strongly dependent on the power frequency current, and
the second on the field strength. A correlation among postarc
current facilitated failures, the ultimately dielectric recovery, and
the erosion rate of the material was found. Strong indication is
given that all of these effects are dominated by the metal vapor
pressure rise given by the constricted rotating arc. A significant
influence of the material properties can be drawn from these
experiments, allowing a good estimation of the capability for
short-circuit current interruption, thus providing a useful tool
for material development.
Index Terms— Dielectric recovery, high current, interruption
performance, postarc period, test method, vacuum arc, vacuum
contact material.
I. INTRODUCTION
I T is a well-known fact that the interrupting capability
of vacuum interrupters depends strongly on the contact
material. A very extensive summary of the influence of various
materials including the effect of additives is given in [1].
For medium-voltage interrupters, copper chromium mixtures
turned out to be superior compared to other known materials
for the majority of the switching cases, such as interruption
of small currents, load currents, and short-circuit currents. Of
course, the capability of a contact of the copper chromium
family depends strongly on the geometry and the material
characteristics, such as the ratio of mixture and method of
production. Optimal solutions normally are found empirically
by the various manufacturers and extensive switching tests.
In particular, to optimize material for a high capability of
short-circuit interruption requires very cost-effective tests as
the latter usually are time consuming and require an expen-
Manuscript received April 1, 1996; revised January 6, 1997. The ex-
periments in this work were performed at the “Bundesforschungs- und
Prüfzentrum,” Vienna, Austria.
E. Huber and K. Fröhlich were with the Technische Universität Wien,
1040 Vienna, Austria. They are now with the High Voltage Laboratory,
ETH-Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland (e-mail: huber@eeh.ee.ethz.ch;
froehlich@eeh.ee.ethz.ch).
R. Grill is with the Metallwerk Plansee, Reutte, Austria.
Publisher Item Identifier S 0093-3813(97)05332-0.
0093–3813/97$10.00  1997 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 25, NO.
sive laboratory installation for short-circuit switching tests. In
addition, these tests do not contain a quantitative result as they
provide only “failure” or “nonfailure” information.
In order to improve this situation, a test procedure was
developed with the goal of delivering results which also
provide the manufacturer of contact materials with quantitative
information as a development tool.
The primary basis of this method is the measurement of the
gap recovery both a few microseconds and a few hundreds
of microseconds after current zero during an interruption of a
sinusoidal short-circuit current wave at a power frequency with
peak values up to 75 kA. In addition, the measured postarc
current after the short-circuit interruption was investigated in
detail, suggesting that the postarc current can be considered
as a guide for the interrupting capacity [9].
The results of the experiments are presented and discussed
in this paper. Furthermore, they are correlated with metal-
lurgical aspects for the various materials which were tested.
Conclusions on the material characteristics such as live en-
durance and switching capability are drawn.
II. EXPERIMENT
A. Setup
As a rule, one loop of a power frequency current of 60
Hz with a peak value of 48 kA was applied to the contact
system. Contact separation was set such as to obtain an arcing
time of 5 ms, the contact distance being 4 mm at current
interruption. The contacts were opened by a pneumatic drive
reaching a speed of 1 m/s after 1 ms delay time. The transient
recovery voltage (TRV) was chosen either with a rate of rise
(RRRV) of 0.7 kV/ s or with 30 kV/ s. The TRV was always
overshooting, i.e., at each interruption, a restrike was obtained
giving a quantitative value for gap recovery. In order to prove
the reproducibility for each type of material, two test series
were carried out, employing two identical sets of the specific
test material. The test circuit for this procedure was a standard
synthetic current injection circuit (Weil–Dobke) as is normally
used in high-power laboratories. The same test circuit was
used for postarc current measurement using the 50-Hz power
frequency current amplitude and the gap length
as a parameter.
B. Test Procedure
Prior to each test series, each test gap was preconditioned by
six diffuse switching arcs with 10 kA (peak value). After this,
HUBER et al.: RECOVERY OF VACUUM INTERRUPTER CONTACTS 643

TABLE I
FEATURES EMPLOYED MATERIAL
OF THE

depending on the withstand capability of the contact system,

up to 20 breaking operations at 48 kA (peak value) were (a)
performed, alternatively changing the RRRV from 30 and 0.7
kV/ s. The value of 48 kA was chosen so as to operate at
the interrupting limit of the investigated contact gaps; this
means that in any case, the switching arc was constricted. The
RRRV of 30 kV/ s was intended to give insight into the gap
conditions within microseconds after current zero, whereas the
RRRV of 0.7 kV/ s should give information on how the gap
would behave during a short current interruption according to
IEC Publication 56.

C. Test Specimen
As a test specimen, standard vacuum interrupter tubes with (b)
a spiral contact system providing a radial magnetic filed for Fig. 1. Restrike values depending on the test number for (a) 25% and (b)
arc rotation were employed. The contact geometry of all 50% Cr content. RRRV = 0.7 kV/s.
investigated specimens was the same. According to the goal of
the investigations, the contact material was copper chromium,
varying in ratio of mixture, residual gas content, and different
production procedure (see Table I).

III. OBSERVATIONS AND TEST RESULTS

A. Dielectric Behavior After 0.7-kV/ s RRRV Stressing

Fig. 1(a) and (b) indicates the dielectric breakdown volt-
age of the gap after applying a TRV of 0.7 kV/ s for the
various materials. The lines in the figures connect the lowest
breakdown values indicating a sort of withstand level, giving
an idea of the breaking capability of the gap. Considering
materials with 25% chromium content [Fig. 1(a)], there is a
significant correlation of the content of impurities and the
withstand capability. The higher the degree of impurities, the
lower are the breakdown values. Also, a higher degree of
impurities causes a faster degree of degradation. Materials
with 50% chromium content [Fig. 1(b)] show, as a rule, a
faster deconditioning, and normally have a significantly wider
scatter of breakdown strength, but have the potential for a
high withstand level as well.
In Fig. 2, the mean values and the scatter of the breakdown
values for the various materials are summarized. This illus-
trates clearly the effect of impurity for the 25% chromium
contacts; it also shows the wider scatter for those with 50%
chromium content. It is obvious as well that material with
a high chromium purity (6) produced by infiltration has
significantly lower values.
Fig. 2. Mean restrike values for an RRRV of 0.7 kV/s depending on the
various materials.
B. Effects Around Current Zero
If a TRV with a 33-kV/ s rate of rise (prospective value)
was applied after current zero, the breakdown of two groups
was clearly distinct. The first group occurred at a comparable
high value having a position close to the course of the
prospective TRV. The second group occurred at lower values,
which are significantly below the prospective TRV. Fig. 3
illustrates this situation schematically.
The reason for the latter lower group lies in a significant
postarc current , which depresses the TRV to these lower
values. Fig. 4 shows in a measurement how the rise of TRV is
influenced by the postarc current. Obviously, the higher group
of breakdown values corresponds to a small postarc current
causing a negligible deformation of the TRV by charge carriers
in the gap.
644 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 25, NO. 4, AUGUST 1997

(a)
Fig. 3. Influence of the postarc current on the TRV shape.

Fig. 4. Typical shapes of postarc currents and TRV courses. Prospective (b)
circuit parameter: di=dt 
9 A/s, du=dt 10 kV/s, time delay 300 Fig. 5. Collapse of gaps along the TRV course. (a) 25% Cr content. (b)
ns. 50% Cr content.

Group 1 seems to be a clearly dielectric failure of the gap,

whereas the mechanism for the values of group 2 is clearly
correlated to the postarc phenomenon. Therefore, this group
of breakdowns is called “thermal favored failures” in the
following. Fig. 5(a) and (b) shows how the breakdown values
are distributed for the various materials. Dielectric and thermal
influenced failures are clearly distinguishable. For 25% copper
chromium content, the tendency for thermal failures is stronger
the higher the degree of impurity. Furthermore, it can be
observed that for these materials, the occurrence of thermal
favored failures decays with increasing test numbers.
For materials with 50% chromium content, the latter condi- Fig. 6. Portion of thermal favored failure depending on material.
tioning effect could not be observed. However, a significantly
higher tendency for the occurrence of these failure mechanisms two gap lengths are evaluated. For 10-mm gap length up to 54
is evident for the infiltrated materials. Fig. 6 summarizes the kA, there is only small influence on the postarc current peak,
ratio between the dielectric and thermal favored failures for but it is strongly enhanced if the current is increased to 68 kA.
the various materials. For a smaller contact gap of 7 mm, this dependency was not
Obviously, there are contact materials which cause more observed. Also, the postarc current amplitude was smaller and
thermal favored failures, and it is assumed that more postarc the current flow duration was shorter.
plasma must remain in these gaps than in other ones. In order In order to obtain more insight into the structure of the
to learn about the influence of the amplitude of the power postarc current course, high-resolution measurements were
frequency current on the postarc current , the following performed with a power frequency of 68-kA peak value and
experiment was carried out. The power frequency current was a gap length variation of 5, 7, and 10 mm. Fig. 8 shows the
increased in steps, but the and were kept constant. mean values of three tests with the gap length as a parameter.
In Fig. 7, the peak value of the postarc current for a 50-Hz As a rule, the postarc current has two distributed maxima. The
power frequency current of 34, 54, and 68 kA (peak value) and first is significantly higher, followed by a second lower one
HUBER et al.: RECOVERY OF VACUUM INTERRUPTER CONTACTS
Fig. 7. Postarc current amplitude versus power frequency current amplitude.
=
di=dt 8:8 A/s, du=dt = 11:2 kV/s, U^ = 58 kV.
Fig. 8. Postarc current courses versus TRV for different gap lengths
d: d = 5; d = 7; and d = 10 mm, I^ = 68 kA/50 Hz, U^ = 98 kV.
which is in phase with the TRV oscillation. The shorter the gap
length is, the smaller is the ratio between the first and second
maximum. As the experiment shows, the failure of the gap to
interrupt is always combined with a relatively high peak value
of the postarc current, as Fig. 8 indicates.
IV. INTERPRETATION
Considering the test results, the following hypothesis is
introduced. The arc releases metal vapor, the amount mainly
dependent on the contact temperature. Contact material pa-
rameters such as
• thermal conductivity,
• gas content, and
• density of material (as the density is practically equiv-
alent for all investigated materials, it is not considered
furthermore)
are responsible for the vapor density and the distribution in
the gap after the current zero. The produced metal vapor
causes a pressure rise up to atmospheric values [2]. The vapor
is nonuniformly well distributed and highest above the hot
spot area. Breakdown occurs at locations where the electric
field, vapor density, or both are highest. This way, the arcing
behavior, e.g., the arc mobility, decides the breakdown origin
ultimately by distribution of the heating load into the contact,
leading to more severe gap conditions after current zero or
not, strongly dependent on the degradation state of the contact
system.
For the material with 25% chromium, it seems to be
primarily a matter of gas content. Obviously, these contacts
erode faster than those with a lower gas content [see Fig. 1(a)];
645
thus, the arc releases a higher amount of gas and metal
vapor, leading to a higher spatial pressure. Another reason for
the increased pressure is a lower arc mobility for the virgin
contact.
For 50% contacts, the arc mobility is generally higher [4]
due to the lower thermal conductivity of these materials. How-
ever, the lower thermal conductivity may cause, in summary,
a longer cooling period. There possibly is a balance between
easy arc movement and slow cool down of the foot paths which
is decided randomly from switching operation to switching
operation. This way, a random scatter between thermal and
dielectric failures, as is observable for 50%, can be explained.
For the phenomena concerning the postarc current, the
following interpretation applies. If the gap length is 7 mm,
the first peak of the postarc current is negligibly influenced
by the power frequency current amplitude (Fig. 7) as the
and before and after current zero, respectively,
were constant. Obviously, no memory of the power frequency
amplitude exists, and the first peak of is related only to
the removal of charge carriers. For a longer gap length,
is generally higher because of the larger amount of charge
carriers in the longer arc, but also, an increase with the higher
power frequency current is the case (see Fig. 7). The reason
for the latter effect is not quite clear, but it is assumed that
a secondary production takes place by space-charge effects
preferred by the larger space volume. It is further assumed
that these effects are the reason for the very low reignition
values (compare Fig. 5) which occur when the interrupter is
on its very limit. Normally declines almost to zero. But
after a first cycle (Fig. 8) a second much smaller rise appears;
the amplitude is higher the smaller the contact gap is. As the
current is more or less in phase with the voltage, it can be
concluded that electron production takes place mainly by field
emission or thermo field emission effects. Normally, this is
the reason for the reignitions occurring at a higher TRV value
(Fig. 5). Further research is necessary to clarify in detail these
effects, in particular, the role of gas density.
V. CONCLUSIONS
• Vapor is assumed to determine the dielectric recovery
of vacuum gaps primarily after constricted arc activity.
A strongly nonuniform distribution and decay of metal
vapor density combined with an inhomogeneous, locally
enhanced electric field provide a large scatter of recovery
level, depending on the arcing behavior.
• As the experiments show, the postarc current normally
has two maxima, the ratio of these values depending on
the gap length and the interrupted current.
• Degassed contact material (2) with 25% chromium con-
tent having a small scatter of restrike values and a small
degree of degradation is assumed to keep the thermal load
low and uniform even after several switching operations.
This proves again that degassing of the material is essen-
tial, as is evident for 25% material. In the case of high
purity, it is a more reliable material. Although material
with 50% Cr content seems to have the potential for a
higher recovery level, this is comparable to random low
646
restrike values. The origin of these low values and their
elimination should be the subject for further research.
• Measuring the gap recovery microseconds after current
zero as well allows deep insight into the material quality,
thus providing a powerful tool for material development
regarding the short-circuit interruption capability of the
contacts.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support with exper-
imental components from the Rensselaer Institute and ABB
Switzerland. They wish to express their thanks to Prof. A.
Greenwood and Prof. M. Glinkowsky, as well as to Dr. L.
Niemeyer for the stimulating discussions.
REFERENCES
[1] P. G. Slade, “Advances in material developement for high power
vacuum interrupter contacts,” IEEE Trans. Comp., Packag., Manufact.
Technol. A, vol. 17, Mar. 1994.
[2] B. Gellert, E. Schade, and E. Dullni, “Measurement of particles and
vapor density after high current vacuum arcs by laser technique,” IEEE
Trans. Plasma Sci., vol. PS-15, Oct. 1987.
[3] E. Dullni and E. Schade, “Recovery behavior of vacuum circuit breakers
at the current interruption limit,” in Proc. 14th Symp. Discharges Elect.
Insulation in Vacuum, 1990.
[4] E. Dullni, “Motion of high current vacuum arcs on spiral type contacts,”
IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., vol. 17, Dec. 1989.
[5] , “Investigations of high-current interruption of vacuum circuit
breakers,” IEEE Trans. Elect. Insulation, vol. 28, Aug. 1993.
[6] F. Unger Weber, “Wiederverfestigung des Hochstrom Vakuumbogens
bei höheren Spannungen,” thesis, TU Braunschweig, Germany, 1988.
[7] D. Heyn, “Untersuchungen zum einfluß des kontaktwerkstoffes auf das
löschverhalten im vakuum,” thesis, TU Braunschweig, Germany, 1990.
[8] M. Glinkowski, “Numerical solution of high current vacuum arcs,” Proc.
SPIE, vol. 2259, p. 153, 1994.
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 25, NO. 4, AUGUST 1997
Eduard Huber was born in Horn, lower Austria, in
1968. He studied electrical engineering at the Tech-
nical University of Vienna, leading to the degree of
Dipl.-Ing. in 1993.
He was with the Institute of Switching Devices
and High Voltage Technology, Technical University
of Vienna. He is now with the ETH-Zürich. His
field of research is in vacuum interrupters contact
materials testing.
Klaus Fröhlich (M’85–SM’88) was born in
Salzburg, Austria, in 1945. He studied electronic
engineering at the Technical University of Vienna,
leading to the degree of Dipl.-Ing in 1972, and
received the Ph.D. degree in electrical power
engineering in 1976.
From 1973 to 1979, he was a Scientific Staff
Member at the Institute of Switchgears, Technical
University of Vienna. In May 1990, he became a
full Professor at the Technical University of Vienna,
where he was head of the Institute of Switching
Devices and High Voltage Technology until 1997. In May 1997, he became
a Professor at the ETH-Zürich.
Dr. Fröhlich is a member of CIGRE Study Commitee 13 and the convenor
of the newly founded CIGRE Working Group 13.07 on controlled switching.
R. Grill was born in 1961. He completed education in metallurgy at the
Berg- und Hüttenschule, Leoben, Austria.
He has been Head of the Developement Group for Composite Materials
at Plansee AG, Reutte, Austria, since 1989. His field of interests are high-
temperature materials and composite materials for electrical applications.