Arc Resistance and Light Reflectance of PTFE for Circuit Breaker

차단기용 PTFE의 내아크성과 광반사율

A study on the arc resistance and light reflectance of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) nozzle for circuit breaker is presented. PTFE has been used widely as a material for circuit breaker nozzle. PTFE has excellent electrical resistivity, high melt viscosity, chemical inertness, heat resistance and low loss factor. PTFE melts at $327\;^{\circ}C$ but the viscosity is very high above the melting point. In the arcing environment in a circuit breaker, the fraction of the power is emitted out of the arc and reaches the nozzle wall by radiation, causing ablation at the surface and in the depth of the wall. Some fraction of the radiation power emitted out of the arc directly break up the chemical bonds at the surface while some fraction of the radiation power penetrates into the wall, heats up the material to evaporation temperature and causes damages deeper inside the volume of the nozzle. In this paper, some fillers that have endurance in the high temperature arc environment were added into PTFE. Adding some fillers into PTFE was expected to be efficient in improving the endurability against radiation. The light reflectance and arc resistance of PTFE composites were investigated.