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This paper is concerned with the investigation of the behavior of the GaInSn liquid metal current limiter (LMCL), in particular, with effect of the prospective short current, combined with experiment and numerical simulation. It is found that the current limiting characteristics of the LMCL get better with the increase of the prospective current due to the reduction of the reaction time and enhancement of the arc voltage. The reaction time of the LMCL is shortened with the rise of the through current mainly caused by the start of the pinch process in advance and the short of the pinch process duration. The current reversal phenomenon caused by high arc pressure under high prospective current is adverse to the current limitation. A structure of the LMCL with decompression function is proposed to minimize the harmful effect of this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the experimental research on a novel current limiter, which mainly takes advantage of the gas pressure in the liquid metal when arcing. A novel current-limiting principle is put forward on account of the pressure measurement results within an experimental device. According to this principle, a U-sh ape sliding part is designed and pushed upward under the gas pressure, which subsequently squeezes the arc into a narrow slot. Furthermore, a specially designed setup is employed to observe the moving process of the sliding part along with the arc behavior. It can be classified into three dynamic stages according to the frames obtained by a high-speed camera. The average velocity of the sliding part can reach about 11 m/s. Finally the influences on the current-limiting performance with the novel improved setup are explored and determined. It demonstrates that this novel method can enhance the current-limiting efficiency to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arc development in the liquid metal current limiter, whose operation is based on the fluid pinch effect, is researched by experimental methods, including high-speed photography. The pre-arcing time and arc voltage are related to the channel diameter and prospective current. The electrode erosion is analyzed, and an efficient method is proposed to reduce this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]