1
2006 IEEE PES Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition Latin America, Venezuela
A New Measurement Method of the Dynamic
Contact Resistance of HV Circuit Breakers
M. Landry, A. Mercier, G. Ouellet, C. Rajotte, J. Caron, M. Roy, and Fouad Brikci
 developed over 10 years ago to assess the condition of the
Index Terms-- Circuit breaker testing, Circuit breakers,
Contact mechanical factors, Contact resistance, Contacts,
Timing, Time measurement, Time domain analysis, Time domain
measurements, Test equipment.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE design of modern high-voltage puffer-type SF6 gas
circuit breakers is based on the switching of two parallel
contact sets. First, the low-resistance silver-plated contacts or
the main contacts are specifically designed to carry the load
current without any excessive temperature rise. Second,
following the main contact part, the tungsten-copper arcing
contacts are finally opened, thus initiating arc quenching and
current interruption.
To assess the condition of the breaker contacts, the main
contact resistance measurement is usually performed.
However, the static resistance measured when the breaker
remains in a closed position does not give any indication of
the condition of the arcing contacts. To evaluate the latters
condition, an internal inspection can be done, but time-
consuming and costly maintenance procedures must be
followed in order to securely handle the SF6 gas and arc by-
products. It should be remembered that excessive arcing-
contact wear and/or misalignment may result in a decrease of
the circuit breakers breaking capacity.
The dynamic contact resistance measurement (DRM) was
M. Landry, A. Mercier, G. Ouellet, C. Rajotte, J. Caron, M. Roy Hydro-
Qubec
F. Brikci, Ph.D. Zensol Automation Inc.
1-4244-0288-3/06/$20.00 2006 IEEE
arcing contacts without dismantling the breaker. This method
is no longer widely used since the interpretation of the
resistance curve remains ambiguous. Previously published
test results usually depicted several spikes [1-3] in the
resistance curve which could be the result of a partial contact
part during the contact movement.
The following paper presents a new dynamic-contact-
resistance measurement method that has been validated by
field tests which were performed on air-blast and SF6 gas
circuit breakers. The new method is based on the breaker
contact resistance measurement during an opening operation
at low speed. After reviewing the characteristics of the
dynamic resistance curve and the measuring system and
parameters, the paper deals with relevant values that can be
extracted from the resistance curve for detecting contact
anomalies wear and/or misalignment. Finally, case studies are
presented and test results are discussed.
II. MEASURING SYSTEM AND SENSORS
For dynamic contact resistance measurements (DRMs),
three signals must be recorded:
- the injected current (IDC) of at least 100 A in order to
minimize relative noise level;
- the voltage drop (VD) across the breaker contacts;
- the breaker contact travel curve.
Since the new DRM method presented in this paper will be
performed during an opening operation at low contact speed
when the breaker is off-line, some commercial acquisition
units with the following features may be used:
- 3 analog inputs with at least 12-bit resolution and
appropriate range of voltage inputs;
- a sampling frequency of d 10 kHz;
- a total acquisition time of 30-100 s;
- connection to a portable computer for calculation of the
instantaneous contact resistance (VD/IDC), data analysis and
interpretation using dedicated software.
Finally, the following sensors are required:
- Hall-effect current sensor allowing accurate measurement
of both the current amplitude and the abrupt current variation
at the arcing contact part that corresponds to the complete
breaker contact opening;
- linear or rotary contact travel sensor depending upon the
breaker technology.
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III. MEASURING PARAMETERS contact resistance may be plotted as a function of the contact
travel (section C).
A. Closing operations
b) 50 ms Arcing
DRMs during closing operations are not generally useful contact
since the measurement must be performed during a transient 100 P: part
state, i.e. from open to closed contacts. There are two main

reasons why the measurement in this condition is impractical:
- the abrupt resistance variation from infinity (open
contacts) to the arcing contact resistance is difficult to
measure, making the resistance level of the arcing contact
difficult to detect;
- the transient DC current at the moment of arcing contact
touch generates undesired noise level and therefore
jeopardizes the measurement.
B. Opening operations at low contact speed
DRM should be rather performed during opening
operations at low contact speed (| 0.002-0.2 m/s). Fig. 1a
shows superimposed typical resistance curves of two
consecutive measurements at rated speed on break A (Table
I). The two traces have been synchronized by superimposing
instants of the main contact part which is identified as tm in
the Fig. 1a graph. Note that no filtering has been applied.
a) 0.5 ms Arcing
contact
500 P: part
Resistance (micro-ohms)
R (micro-ohms)
At low speed
Contact speed=0.2 m/s 0.15 m/s
Main contact part
tm
t
Fig. 1b. Comparison of the dynamic contact resistance curves according to
the conventional (at rated speed) and the new (at low speed) methods
b) At low speed on break A
For break B (Table I), Fig. 1c depicts another DRM curve
that was recorded at the rated contact speed. Several spikes
can be observed. Moreover, it is absolutely impossible to
identify the main contact part. The presumed main contact
part is indicated based on other measurements at low contact
speed. As for break A, it is anticipated that this phenomenon
is caused by partial contact part due to high contact speed and
acceleration. At low contact speed, the DRM curve is far

At rated speed
Main smoother and the main contact part can be easily identified
contact No reproducible (Fig. 1d).
part measurements c) Arcing
2 ms
contact part
At rated speed
tm 500 P:
R (micro-ohms)

Presumed main
contact part
time

Fig. 1a. Comparison of the dynamic contact resistance curves according to the
conventional (at rated speed) and the new (at low speed) methods
a) At rated speed on break A

At the rated speed, it can be observed that the resistance t

curves are not reproducible from one test to another.
Fig. 1c. Comparison of the dynamic contact resistance curves according to the
Moreover, this phenomenon is more marked in the vicinity of conventional (at rated speed) and the new (at low speed) methods
the arcing contact part. During the validation test program, it c) At rated speed on break B
was observed that this behaviour is completely random. On
the contrary, for the same breaker A, Fig. 1b shows two
dynamic contact resistance curves obtained at low contact
speeds of 0.2 and 0.15 m/s. The two traces have also been
synchronized by superimposing instants of the main contact
part. Except for the fact that the curves exhibit different
instants of the arcing contact part which are due to
measurements at different contact speeds, the two resistance
curves appear to be almost identical. To eliminate these time
deviations resulting from the contact speed, the dynamic
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d) 5s Arcing
contact part
At low speed
500 P:
R (micro-ohms)

Contact speed= 0.002 m/s

Main contact part

t
Fig. 1d. Comparison of the dynamic contact resistance curves according to Relatively new fixed contact (F1)
the conventional (at rated speed) and the new (at low speed) methods
d) At low speed on break B

It must be pointed out that partial contact part does not

occur when a high current is interrupted since electromagnetic
forces are exerted on the contacts, maintaining them together
until final contact separation. Therefore, it is assumed that the
low-speed DRM more adequately simulates the actual
operating conditions of an in-service HV circuit breaker.

IV. PARAMETERS TO BE EXTRACTED FROM THE DYNAMIC

RESISTANCE CURVE

A. Contact wear algorithm New moving contact (M1) Slightly worn

moving contact (M2)
A contact wear algorithm was developed for the new DRM
method. Fig. 2b depicts the contact resistance curve for
different contact sets of an HV air-blast circuit breaker: one
relatively new fixed contact (F1) and four moving contacts in
different stages of wear (Fig. 2a): a new contact (M1), a
slightly worn contact (M2), a worn contact (M3) and a
seriously damaged contact (M4), thus forming 4 complete
contact sets (F1-M1, F1-M2, F1-M3 and F1-M4). These
contact sets were mounted in a laboratory test set-up
comprising a vertical computer-numerical-control milling
machine, thus allowing the contacts to be closed and opened
at a relatively constant and low contact speed. For each
contact set, Fig. 2c shows the curves of the cumulative area
beneath the dynamic contact resistance curves of Fig. 2b. The
area value (Ar) just before the beginning of the vertical slope
corresponds to the maximum value reached just before the Worn moving contact (M3) Seriously worn
arcing contact part. moving contact (M4)

Fig. 2a. Wear contact analysis by evaluating the area beneath the dynamic
contact resistance curve for different contact sets
a) View of the fixed and moving contacts
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b) R (m:
a) Arcing contact part
0.5 s

1 m:

R and Contact travel

t0 D p
t
2 Contact travel
curve
4 P a
3 1 t Dynamic D a
resistance
1: Contact set F1-M1 3: Contact set F1-M3 R p curve
2: Contact set F1-M2 4: Contact set F1-M4 Main contact part
Fig. 2b. Wear contact analysis by evaluating the area beneath the dynamic
contact resistance curve for different contact sets Time 
b) Graph of the dynamic contact resistance curves

c) Ar (m:.s)
0.5 s 5.4 m:.s Arcing contact part
b)
1 m:s
3.9 m:.s
t
2
2.8 m:.s 2.7
R a * D a

4 m:.s
3 1
t
1: Contact set F1-M1 3: Contact set F1-M3
2: Contact set F1-M2 4: Contact set F1-M4
Fig. 2c. Wear contact analysis by evaluating the area beneath the dynamic
contact resistance curve for different contact sets
c) Graph of the cumulative area beneath the dynamic contact resistance
curves
For the different contact sets, the Ar value is:
- 2.7 m.s for the new contact set F1-M1;
- 2.8 m.s for the slightly worn contact set F1-M2;
- 3.9 m.s for the worn contact set F1-M3;
- 5.4 m.s for the seriously damaged contact set F1-M4.
These Ar values provide an excellent assessment of the
actual condition of the contact sets. In fact, the Ar value
increases based on contact wear. The seriously damaged
contact is clearly identified since the Ar value (i.e. 5.4 m.s)
is twice that for the new contact set (2.7 m.s).
B. Graph of the contact travel curve and resistance curve
Fig. 3a depicts a typical dynamic resistance curve during an
opening operation at low speed where t0 corresponds to the
beginning of the breaker contact motion. In most breaker
operating manuals, the procedure for performing such a low
speed opening is given. It is always relevant to superimpose
the travel curve of the breaker contact in order to extract
diagnostic parameters related to the position of both the main
contacts and the arcing contacts. These parameters are:
- Rp (): Average main contact resistance
- Dp (mm): Main contact wipe
- Da (mm): Arcing contact wipe
- Pa (mm): Position of the breaker contacts at the arcing
contact part
R (milliohms)
Main contact
part
R a
R p
Contact travel (mm)
D p D a
P a
Fig. 3a. & Fig. 3b. Parameters to be extracted from the dynamic contact
resistance curve
a) Contact resistance and contact motion as a function of time
b) Contact resistance as a function of contact travel
C. Graph of the resistance curve as a function of the contact
travel
To compensate for the fact that the dynamic resistance
curve is measured at a low contact speed that is not
necessarily constant for the two test series (Fig. 1a), the
contact resistance graph must be plotted as a function of the
contact travel (Fig. 3b) in order to evaluate two additional
parameters for diagnosing the arcing contact conditions:
- Ra (P:): Average arcing contact resistance = (6
Ri=1,N) / N (Fig. 3b), N= Number of samples in the
interval Da
- Ra*Da (m:.mm): Area beneath the resistance curve as
a function of the contact travel
(Fig. 3b)
The latter parameter provides a criterion for evaluating the
global breaker contact wear and/or contact alignment status.
Once the graph is plotted, all diagnostic parameters can be
deduced, including those in section B. Since this graph can be
considered as complete for diagnosing the breaker contact
condition, it will be given for each case study presented in the
following section.
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V. CASE STUDIES equipment. An investigation of the breaker failure revealed

The new DRM method was validated in the field on SF6
gas circuit breakers. Three case studies are presented in the
following section. Table I summarizes the measurement
results for which abnormal values are highlighted.
A. Case study No. 1: One break of a 315-kV capacitor-bank
SF6 gas circuit breaker
Fig. 4 presents the DRM results on a break (Break A, Table
I) of a 315-kV capacitor-bank SF6 gas circuit breaker which
has performed 2492 operations. Based on this graph and the
results listed in Table I, it can be deduced that the arcing
contacts are in excellent condition. In fact, the Ra value of
185 P: is almost constant throughout the contact motion.
The global criteria Ra*Da is also relatively low, i.e. 3.6
m: .mm. In addition, the main contact part can be easily
detected.
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that an arcing contact tip appeared to have broken off during
an opening operation and thus impaired the subsequent
closing operation.
In the fall of 2002, the DRM was performed. Based on the
Fig. 5a graph, the parameters defined in section IV were
extracted and listed in the case study No. 2 row in Table I.
The instantaneous arcing contact resistance reaches an
abnormal peak of 1 m: while the average value (Ra) of 420
P: could be interpreted as normal. The most relevant factor
is the product Ra*Da that reaches 10.3 m:.mm, thus
suggesting a contact anomaly. As mentioned in section IV,
this factor represents the cumulative area beneath the
resistance curve, thus summing the resistance variations or the
contact wear during arcing contact opening.
a)
3
Break B

R (milliohms)
Break A
2
R (milliohms)

2
1

1
Main contact part 0
0 10 20 30 40 50
0 Contact travel (mm)
5 15 25 35
Contact travel (mm)
Fig. 4. DRMs on break A
b)
3
Break C
TABLE I
SUMMARY OF DRM RESULTS
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Break A: Break of a 315-kV capacitor-bank SF6 gas circuit-breaker

0
5 15 25 35 45 55
Break B: Break of a 120-kV capacitor-bank SF6 gas circuit-breaker
Break C: Same as break B, except that arcing contacts were overhauled Contact travel (mm)
Break D: Break (with internal restrike) of a 230-kV SF6 gas reactor circuit-
breaker Fig. 5a. & Fig. 5b. Dynamic contact resistance measurements on one break of
Break E: Same as break D, but without internal restrike a 120-kV capacitor-bank SF6 gas circuit-breaker
a) Dynamic resistance curve before contact dismantling
b) Dynamic resistance curve after contact overhaul
B. Case study No. 2: One break of a 120-kV capacitor-bank
SF6 gas circuit breaker Photos of the moving and fixed arcing contacts of the
Case study No. 2 (Fig. 5) presents the DRM results on a tested break are shown in Fig. 5c.
break (Break B, Table 1) of a 120-kV capacitor-bank SF6 gas
circuit breaker which has performed 687 operations.
In February 2000, a major failure occurred on this circuit
breaker which caused important damage to the surrounding
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Ra*Da of 60 m:.mm is the highest value that was ever

obtained during the validation test program. The break was
dismantled and arcing traces on both the moving and fixed
arcing contacts as well as on the supporting tube of the main
contacts were observed.
a) 3
Break D

R (milliohms)
2

0
0 20 40 60
Contact travel (mm)

b) 3
Break E

2
R (milliohms)

1
Main contact part

Fig. 5c. Dynamic contact resistance measurements on one break of a 120-kV
capacitor-bank SF6 gas circuit-breaker
c) View of the damaged moving and fixed arcing contacts
On the moving arcing contact, it can be observed that one
arcing contact tip is off center. This abnormality caused
damage to the fixed arcing contact (see right-hand side photo).
It is believed that this condition occurred due to a
misalignment of the arcing contacts at the break assembly.
After an arcing contact overhaul and careful contact
alignment, the DRM was performed one more time. Fig. 5b
presents the measurement results that showed that the arcing
contact condition was definitely restored. In fact, the Ra value
of 173 P:is low. Furthermore, the low Ra*Da value of
3.4 m:.mm indicates that the arcing contact is in excellent
condition.
C. Case study No. 3: One break of a 230-kV reactor SF6 gas
circuit breaker
Fig. 6a presents the DRM results for break D (Table I) for
which an internal breakdown occurred without a major failure.
In this case, the Ra value is about 2 m:which indicates very
severe damage to the arcing contacts. The global value
0
0 20 40 60
Contact travel (mm)
Fig. 6. DRM results on breaks of a 230-kV reactor SF6 gas circuit-breaker
a) Resistance curve following an internal restrike of the break D
b) Normal break E
For comparison purposes, Fig. 6b gives the DRM results
for a normal break (Break E, Table I) of the same circuit
breaker. Based on the curves and the extracted value in Table
I, the arcing contacts of this break are clearly in excellent
condition. In fact, the Ra value of around 100 P: is almost
constant from the main contact part up to the arcing contact
part.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper presents a new dynamic contact resistance
measurement method performed during opening operations at
low contact speed aimed at evaluating the breaker condition
without dismantling it. Compared to the DRM curves at the
rated contact speed, the new method allows reproducible
curves to be obtained which are easy to analyze and interpret.
Three signals must be measured: the injected DC current
that must be produced by a stable source, the voltage drop
across the breaker contacts and the contact travel.

To extract the diagnostic parameters, a dedicated software
program was developed in order to plot the dynamic
resistance curve as a function of the contact travel, i.e. m:
versus mm. Six vital diagnostic parameters values are
therefore determined:
- average main contact resistance;
- average arcing contact resistance;
- main contact wipe;
- arcing contact wipe;
- position of the breaker contact at the arcing contact part;
- and the cumulative area beneath the resistance curve.
The last parameter is the most relevant one since it allows
the overall contact wear and/or contact alignment status to be
assessed. Moreover, values obtained from different breaker
technologies can be compared. For example, values of about
3 m:.mm indicate healthy breaker contacts while values of
about 10 m:.mm indicate faulty contacts.
The three case studies presented in this paper prove that the
new DRM method provides vital information about the
breaker contact condition. Without dismantling the breaker,
the maintenance crew can thus plan maintenance work for
specific breakers for which the DRMs reveal contact
anomalies.
VII. REFERENCES
Papers from Conference Proceedings (Published):
[1] Salamanca F., Borras F., Eggert H., Steingrber W., Preventive
Diagnosis on High-Voltage Circuit Breakers, Paper No. 120-02, 1993
CIGRE Symposium, Berlin.
[2] Kumar Tyagi R., Singh Sodha N., Condition-Based Maintenance
Techniques for EHV-Class Circuit Breakers, 2001 Doble Client
Conference.
[3] Ohlen M., Dueck B, Wernli H., Dynamic Resistance Measurements A
Tool for Circuit Breaker Diagnostics, 1995 Stockholm Power Tech
International Symposium on Electric Power Engineering, Vol. 6, p. 108-
113, Sweden.
VIII. BIOGRAPHIES
Michel Landry (S'75, M'77, SM'90) was born in
Qubec, Canada, on August 23, 1952. He received
his B.Sc.A. in Electrical Engineering from
Sherbrooke University in 1975. In 1977, he
obtained his M.Sc. in Energy from INRS-Energie,
University of Qubec in Montral. From 1977 to
1979, he was responsible for testing electrical
power apparatus for the high-power laboratory at
Hydro-Qubec's Research Institute (IREQ). In
1979, he joined the Electrical Equipment
department at IREQ and, until 1983, participated in the development of
mathematical methods and computer programs for the selection of electrical
components of IREQ's synthetic platform designed to perform synthetic
breaking tests according to IEC and ANSI standards. From 1983 to 1985, he
was involved in a research and test program to qualify the required electrical
performance of 2-MV air-blast circuit-breakers for Hydro-Qubec's James
Bay power system. He also contributed to the development of a new post-arc
technology applied to power circuit breakers. From 1985 to 1990, he was
engaged in research related to the design of a new SF6 puffer breaker for low
temperature application (-50oC), which earned the 1991 Mritas prize in
Engineering awarded by the Ordre des Ingnieurs du Qubec. He is now
involved in many research projects related to breaker interrupting performance
and in-service condition monitoring for which MONITEQ, an on-line
monitoring system for HV circuit breakers, earned an R&D 100 given by the
prestigious R&D Magazine of Chicago. He has authored or co-authored more
than 35 international publications, one of which earned a prize paper award
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from the IEEE Power Engineering Society in 1986. He is a senior member of
the IEEE Power Engineering Society, member of the Canadian IEC Technical
Committee 17 on switchgear, and a registered Professional Engineer in the
province of Qubec.
Andr Mercier received his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Laval
University (Qubec City) in 1977 and, in 1979, completed the credits for a M.
Sc. degree in microcomputers. For 1 years, he
worked with GENIFAB Inc. in hardware and
software design and production of control and data
acquisition systems for various industries. In 1980,
he joined the development and research centre of
Qubec Iron Titanium (QIT, 500-MW smelter and
mill). For ten years, he designed and built many
real-time process control and data acquisition
systems (both software and hardware) using
microprocessors, PLC, PC, VAX, etc. He was also
involved in contracts concerning data acquisition for
external companies. In 1990, he joined IREQ as a research scientist working
on projects related to circuit breakers, focusing on the monitoring and
controlled switching aspects. He is involved in some IEC and CIGRE working
groups, and recently in the CIGRE A3.07 working group where he was a very
active member. He designed and installed the first controlled system to
energize unloaded high-power transformer taking into account the residual
flux. He teached the design of industrial electronic controls using digital and
microprocessor circuits at cole Polytechnique de Montral. He is a member
of the Ordre des Ingnieurs du Qubec.
Gilles Ouellet was born in Qubec, Canada, on
February 20, 1953 and received his diploma in
physics laboratory techniques from CEGEP La
Pocatire, Qubec in 1974. Specialized Training:
Course on high-voltage, heavy-current measuring
techniques given by Dr. Ryzsard Malewski of IREQ
specializing in data measurement and acquisition.
Expertise in circuit simulation using EMTP,
FLUX2D, PHI3D, etc. and various electric and
magnetic field calculation tools. Technical
experience: Responsible for the selection and testing of various sensors for
instrumenting a GEC-Alsthom PK-PKV type circuit breaker. These sensors
are now being used to monitor two breakers installed in IREQ's high-power
laboratory in 1993, at some Hydro-Quebec substations and at some New-York
Power Authority substations. Involved in the development of a new method
for measuring the contacts resistance of breakers. Involved in the development
of a capacitor-divider system used at Hydro-Qubec's Rivire Sainte-Anne
substation and now in Mexico, in a joint project with BG CHECO. Designed
several capacitor banks with strong di/dt (200 kA in 1.8 ms) used to test the
oxy-metallic blocks of the new sacrificial surge arrester for the James Bay
system. Cooperation requested by manufacturers such as McGraw-Edison and
Raychem during the development of the metal-oxide surge arrester. Involved
also with CIGRE Working Group 3.4.11 on Surge Arresters in the testing of
metal-oxide blocks. Co-author of a new welding-arc control method based on
acoustic-wave modulation, now marketed by a high-tech firm in Qubec.
Participated in simulation studies of short-circuit-current interruption in the
absence of current zero, which led to selection of the circuit breaker to be used
for Hydro-Qubec's series compensation system. Author of fifty reports and
contributor to five IEEE publications.
Jacques Caron received his B.Sc A. in Electrical
Engineering from Sherbrooke University in 1975. In
1979, he obtained his M.Sc in Energy from INRS-
nergie, University of Qubec. Since 1979, he has
been working in the Maintenance department of
Transnergie, the Transmission Division of Hydro-
Qubec. He is currently involved in the technical
support of circuit-breakers maintenance activities.
These breakers are from various vintages and
technologies, like vacuum, oil, airblast and SF6,
most of them rated for operation down to -50C,
with voltages ranging from 12kV up to 765kV.
Michel Roy received the BSEE degree from Laval University in 1972. From
1972 to 1990, he worked at IREQ as a test engineer. He was involved on the
 8

construction of synthetic test station and the test techniques for HV and EHV
circuit breakers. From 1990 to 1994, he was the chief engineer for the
development of the Hydro-Qubec standards on HV and EHV circuit breakers
and their certification. In 1995, he joined the Maintenance departement in
Hydro-Qubec. He is mainly responsible for SF6 circuit breakers and GIS
substations. He is registered Professionnal Engineer in the province of
Qubec.

Dr. Fouad Brikci, Ph.D., is the president of Zensol

Automation Inc., one of the leading manufacturers
of circuit breaker analyzers in the world. Dr. Brikci
was the first to introduce on the market the concept
of TRUE computerized test equipment in the field
of circuit breaker analyzers. As a former university
teacher and CNRS researcher in France, Dr. Brikci
has developped experience in the fields of
Electronics, Automation and Computer science.
Most activities were focused on the industrial
application of computers. Among his achievements are the development of a
major automated system made for paint manufacturers, development of fully
computerized measuring systems for quality control manufactured by circuit
breaker manufacturers, laboratories and maintenance services of electric
utilities. Dr. Brikci holds a Ph.D. degree in Electronics and a Master in
Sciences in EEA (Electronics, Electrotechnics and Automation) from the
University of Bordeaux, France.