One-Coil Long-Stroke Permanent Magnetic Actuator Design Applied to Load Breaker Switch for Railway

This paper proposes a design for a one-coil long-stroke permanent magnet actuator (PMA) applied to a load breaker switch with a novel mechanism applicable to railways. As a new load breaker switch applicable to railway overhead lines has a double-insulation structure of the vacuum interrupter (VI) and a disconnect switch (DS) for higher insulation, the actuator to control the switch requires a very long stroke. While the traditional mechanism of the PMA implements a stroke of 10 to 30 mm, the load breaker switch with a double-insulation structure requires a stroke of 120 mm. To do so, we used the finite element method (FEM) and designed a novel one-coil long-stroke PMA. Then, values from FEM analysis were compared with measured holding force data, and a simplified prototype test-jig was used to confirm the actuator’s operating characteristics. In addition, the electromagnetic force, plunger rotation, and part weight ratio, which affect operating performance, were adapted in its design. By doing so, we confirmed the operating performance required for the one-coil long-stroke PMA for a new load breaker switch with a double-insulation structure with a VI average opening speed of 1.4 m/s and an average closing speed of 0.9 m/s at 1/2 of full stroke.