An Optimal Design Strategy for a Thomson Coil Actuator

Abstract

An arc eliminator allows a surge current bypass rapidly into the earth to facilitate the circuit breaking process and increase the stability of the load circuit. Thomson coil actuator (TCA) is a type of actuator that can function as an arc eliminator. The TCA has a simple structure and significantly rapid speed compared to the other types of actuators. In this paper, significant variables, which have a dominant effect on the performance of the TCA, are investigated in detail. Using these variables and an optimization algorithm, an optimal design strategy for the TCA is proposed in this research. The efficacy of the proposed optimal design strategy and the feasibility of the application of the designed TCA for a high power circuit breaker as the arc eliminators are validated through the experiment.