Piezoelectric actuators provide several advantages, including rapid response time, travel control, high resolution and actuation efficiency. They are a good candidate for actuating mechanical switches designed for electrical circuit breakers. This study investigates the utilisation of an Amplified Piezoelectric Actuator (APA) in Block-Free (B-F) operational mode as an actuation unit for a Fast-Mechanical Switch (FMS) and an Ultra-Fast Disconnector (UFD) to be utilised in a DC Hybrid Circuit Breaker (HCB). Initially, the principle and construction of the piezoelectric actuator actuating scheme were described and illustrated. A Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model was built to simulate and analyse the presented switch/disconnector static and dynamic behaviours. A prototype was constructed based on calculations, and the travel characteristics were experimentally validated. Subsequently, the proposed switch/disconnector was insulated once in a vacuum and later in a nitrogen gas interruption chamber. Both arrangements were integrated into a DC Hybrid Circuit Breaker test platform to investigate their interruption features. Results show that the presented switch/disconnector achieved a total gap of approximately 1 mm in 1.4 ms and interrupted a DC power of 0.6 kV/60 A within 0.85–1.5 ms in vacuum and 0.98–1.45 ms in nitrogen gas.
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