Application Paper AP01301001E Effective September 2009

Determining power circuit breaker

interrupting ratings
Breaker tested conditions
Scale of Current Values
3.0
There has been a lot of confusion in the industry
Total Current—a Wholly Offset Asymmetrical Alternating Wave as to how to properly select the interrupting rating
of a breaker with so many different current values
rms Value of Total Current
2.5 to consider. For the purposes of selecting the
Alternating Component Symmetrical Wave interrupting rating of a circuit breaker, one
should only concern oneself with the rms
2.0 symmetrical current rating of the system, along
rms Value of Alternating Component
with the system %pf or X/R ratio and the circuit
breaker interrupting rating. Other current values,
1.5
such as rms asymmetrical current and peak
asymmetrical currents, are dependent on the
1.0 %pf or X/R ratio and can thus be removed from
consideration. Figure 1 shows the relationship
between the various current values.
0.5 The Magnum DS product line contains circuit
1 2 3 4 breakers rated at varying levels of interrupting
0
rating, from 42 kAIC to 100 kAIC at 600V and up to
200 kAIC at 480V. The interrupting ratings shown
are rms symmetrical current values tested with a
–0.5 %pf of 15, which corresponds to an X/R ratio of 6.6.
Examples of the relationship between these
–1.0
different current values are shown in Tables 1
and 2. These tables convert the tested X/R ratio
for Eaton’s Magnum DS breakers with their
–1.5 Direct Component—the Axis Time in Cycles varying rms symmetrical interrupting ratings
of Symmetrical Wave of a 60 Hz Wave and their equivalent rms and peak asymmetrical
interrupting ratings. Calculations were
–2.0 based on a 60 Hz system and t=1/2 cycle
(ANSI/IEEE姞 C37.13.1990/10.14).
Figure 1. Structure of an Asymmetrical Current Wave
Table 1. Magnum DS Asymmetrical
Multiplication Factor
Overview
rms Peak
All of Eaton’s Magnum姠 DS line of power circuit %pf X/R Multiplication Multiplication
breakers are 100% rated and tested to applicable 15 6.59 1.3308 2.2923
industry standards, including ANSI C37.13,
C37.16, C37.17, C37.50; NEMA姞 SG3; UL姞 1066;
and CSA姞 22.2.
Table 2. Magnum DS Asymmetrical Currents
When correctly applying a circuit breaker to a
system that has different %pf and X/R values from Circuit rms rms Peak
Breaker Symmetrical Asymmetrical Asymmetrical
those used in the circuit to test the breaker, one
should take into account the system’s X/R ratio MDS4 42,000 55,894 96,277
and rms symmetrical current to arrive at an adjust- MDS5 50,000 66,540 114,615
ed rms symmetrical current that will be compared MDS6 65,000 86,502 149,000
to the breaker’s tested interrupting ratings, among
other considerations. MDS8 85,000 113,118 194,846
MDSC 100,000 133,080 229,230
Application Paper AP01301001E Determining power circuit breaker
Effective September 2009 interrupting ratings

Based Upon: rms Asym – DC2 + rms Sym2 with DC Value Taken at Current Peak
rms Symmetrical

rms Symmetrical
Peak Maximum

2.8

rms Maximum
Asymmetrical

Asymmetrical
2.7
2.6
2.5
2.4 tor
Fac
2.3 t ion
ica
ipl
2.2 ult 1.8
Peak Multiplication Factor =

rms Multiplication Factor =

M
2.1 ak 1.7
Pe
2.0 actor 1.6
ion F
1.9 lt i plicat 1.5
rm s Mu
1.8 1.4
1.7 1.3
1.6 1.2
1.5 1.1
1.4
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Circuit X/R Ratio (Tan Phase)

Figure 2. Relation of X/R Ratio and Asymmetrical Multiplication Factor

Figure 2 shows the relationship between the X/R ratio and the shows the adjusted system rms symmetrical currents at various
multiplication factors used to calculate the circuit breaker rms %pf and X/R ratios at varying system rms symmetrical currents.
and peak asymmetrical currents. Their interdependency allows us For example, consider a system that has an rms symmetrical
to narrow our consideration to the %pf or X/R ratio and the system current of 60 kA, with %pf of 7.1 and an X/R ratio of 14. We can
rms symmetrical currents in determining circuit breaker determine from Figure 2 or mathematical calculations that this
interrupting ratings. system has an rms asymmetrical current of 90.5 kA and a peak
asymmetrical current of 153 kA; however, these figures are not used
Selecting breakers with different %pf in selecting the circuit breaker interrupting rating. Because the %pf
To properly size a circuit breaker for a system that has a %pf greater is less than 15 (X/R ratio is greater than 6.6), the adjusted system
than or equal to 15 (X/R ratio of less than 6.59), one should simply rms symmetrical current must be determined. Using Table 3, one
ensure that the rms symmetrical interrupting rating of the breaker can apply the multiplication factor of 1.111 to the system’s rms
is sufficiently large enough to cover the rms symmetrical current symmetrical current to arrive at an adjusted rms symmetrical current
of the system. of 66.6 kA. A circuit breaker that has an interrupting rating greater
than this value must be selected, such as the 85 kAIC Magnum DS
In systems where the %pf is less than 15 (X/R ratio greater than 6.6), breaker (MDS8).
an adjusted rms symmetrical current must be determined by applying
a multiplying factor (MF) to the system’s calculated rms symmetrical For further information, please consult Eaton’s Consulting
current. This adjusted rms symmetrical current must then be Application Guide or visit www.eaton.com/consultants.
compared to the breaker’s tested rms symmetrical currents. The
breaker selected must have an rms symmetrical interrupting rating
that is larger than the adjusted rms symmetrical current. Table 3

Table 3. Adjusted rms Symmetrical Currents

%pf
4.0 5.0 5.5 6.2 7.1 8.3 10.0 12.4 15.0 20.0
X/R 25.0 20.0 18.0 16.0 14.0 12.0 10.0 8.0 6.6 4.9
Multiplying factor (MF) 1.162 1.145 1.136 1.125 1.111 1.093 1.069 1.035 1.000 1.000
System rms 40,000 46,488 45,814 45,449 45,001 44,440 43,716 42,746 41,383 40,000 40,000
symmetrical
current 50,000 58,110 57,268 56,811 56,252 55,550 54,644 53,432 51,729 50,000 50,000
60,000 69,732 68,722 68,174 67,502 66,660 65,573 64,119 62,074 60,000 60,000
80,000 92,976 91,629 90,898 90,003 88,880 87,431 85,491 82,766 80,000 80,000
100,000 116,220 114,536 113,623 112,504 111,100 109,289 106,864 103,457 100,000 100,000

Eaton Corporation
Electrical Sector
1111 Superior Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44114
United States
877-ETN-CARE (877-386-2273)
Eaton.com

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September 2009 respective owners.