Abstract
Extra-high voltage(EHV) disconnecting switch(DS) consists of the electrical contacts and mechanical parts which actuate the contacts. When the short-circuit condition occurs, a large amount of current flows through the electrical contact in disconnecting switches and this causes considerable temperature rise due to Joule heating. If the temperature rise is higher than the melting point of contact material, the DS contact becomes melting and cannot be usable anymore. For this reason, the analysis for capability of carrying short-circuit current in DS contacts must be performed at a design stage. Here, we proposed a numerical technique for evaluating the capability of carrying short-circuit current at electrical contacts in EHV DS. In this numerical approach, the mechanical and thermal analyses were simulated to check the capability of carrying short-circuit current. First, the applied pressure at contact parts was analyzed considering the mechanical properties, and then contact resistance was calculated by an empirical equation. Finally, thermal analysis was performed with resistance variation at electrical contacts. To verify these numerical results, the distributions of temperature in DS were experimentally measured and compared with each other. The results from experiments were agreed well with those from the proposed numerical simulations.
