Bal Seal Engineering, Inc. has subjected its Bal Spring™ canted coil springs to third-party testing to demonstrate how well the springs withstand KEMA’s rigorous short circuit current exposure and cycling. The results will enable the company to provide customers with verified performance data, including continuous, short-circuit and peak current ratings and electrical resistance per spring coil.
Short circuit current testing of springs made from two highly conductive copper alloy materials was conducted at 1 second and 3 seconds at power levels up to 65,000 amps to determine the average maximum current each material could withstand. An additional test was also conducted to demonstrate the number of cycles a single spring could withstand when a short circuit current of 3 seconds is applied repeatedly.
Tests were conducted at KEMA’s Powertest Laboratory (Chalfont, PA) using a fabricated device designed to replicate standard groove and spring design configurations commonly used in high-current applications such as gas-insulated switchgear. Each device included a housing, a piston, a spring, and an insulator ring.
