Analysis and design of a high-speed permanent magnet characteristic actuator using eddy current effect for high-voltage vacuum circuit breaker

This study proposes a high-speed permanent magnet actuator (HSPMA) for high-voltage vacuum circuit breaker (VCB). The HSPMA comprises mainly of an eddy current repulsion force actuator and a permanent magnet (PM) actuator. The structural saliency of HSPMA is described and its control principle is elaborated in details. Finite element method is used and the eddy current is included in the computation of the electro-magnet fields of the HSPMA. The system equations, which couples the magnet field to circuit and mechanical equations, are built in ANSOFT Maxwell and Circuit Editor in this study of the making and breaking procedures of the HSPMA. The simulated characteristics show the design meets the requirement of the high-voltage VCB. The optimal thickness of the eddy current plate is 10 mm. The capacitor also has an economic optimal value of 10,000 μF. The simulated results indicate that the HSPMA has a sound characteristic when compared with circuit breakers with only PM actuator.