The motion characteristics of the vacuum circuit breaker with a spring operating mechanism is analyzed

the flexible treatment ideas of the key component part are proposed

and a rigid-flexible multi-body virtual prototype model is built using the virtual prototype technology-automatic dynamic analysis of mechanical systems（ADAMS）to simulate its switching on/off processes. Hence

the curves of stroke and speed of the movable contact and the insulating tension rod vs. time during the switching on/off process are obtained through dynamic simulations. Switching on/off experiments of the vacuum circuit breaker prototype are conducted to measure the corresponding mechanical characteristics by the displacement sensor on the insulating tension pole. Comparison between experimental results and simulation results indicates that the output characteristics of the proposed rigidflexible multi-body virtual prototype model coincide well with the experimental results than the multi-rigid body model. Further

the rigid-flexible multi-body virtual prototype model behaves better than the multi-rigid body model in simulating velocity and acceleration. It is concluded that the rigid-flexible multi-body virtual prototype model may be applied to optimization design

fatigue analysis

and reliability improvement of spring operating mechanism of vacuum circuit breaker.