Modeling and simulation of a Novel Actuator for Medium-Voltage Vacuum Circuit Breakers Based on PMSM Servo Drive

This study proposes to utilize a permanent magnet synchronous motor drive as the operating mechanism in medium-voltage vacuum circuit breakers. Electric motors are easy-to-control actuator, which makes them suitable candidate for implementing the opening and closing processes in the vacuum circuit breakers. The behavior of the proposed electric motor-based actuator is studied and simulated for a 36 kV vacuum circuit breaker in MATLAB/Simulink. A slider-crank mechanism is placed between the electric motor shaft and movable contact to convert rotary motion to linear movement. Moreover, the mathematical analysis of the mechanical mechanism is presented. The simulation result confirms that the proposed actuator can fulfil stable operations needs of a 36 kV vacuum circuit breaker.