Simulation analysis of a circuit breaker closing resistor explosion due to a wildfire-induced fault

Intermittent failures of air insulation caused by wildfires can lead to multiple reclosings in the electrical grid. These repeated operations may result in the explosion of the closing resistors. This paper builds on a case study where a closing resistor exploded following a wildfire, constructing a multiphysics simulation model for the closing resistor. The model uses the parameters recorded by the circuit breaker as stimuli to perform computational analyses. The results indicate that using these recorded parameters as stimuli and solving the model show that the temperature of the closing resistor will increase by 375K. This temperature rise, combined with the ambient temperature, significantly exceeds the operational temperature limit of the closing resistor, leading to its explosion due to excessive heat.