FUSE

PSP/FUSE/NNS 1
 Fuse (Edison 1890)
An overcurrent protective device with a circuit opening fusible part that
is heated and cut off by the passage of overcurrent through it.
It comprises all the parts that form a unit capable of performing the
prescribed functions. [IEEE DIC].

It is the cheapest, simplest and oldest protective device uses as a

current interrupting device under short circuit conditions. It is designed
to carry the working current safely without overheating under normal
conditions and melts due to sufficient I2R heating due to over loads or
short circuits and so interrupts the current.
Fuse is a thermal device. Possess inverse time – current characteristic,
i.e., the operating time decreases as the fault current increases.
Fuses are used to protect cables, electrical equipment and
semiconductor devices against overloads / short circuits in low voltage
and medium voltage circuits.
They are relatively economical, do not require relays or instrument
transformers and they are reliable.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 2
PSP/FUSE/NNS 3
PSP/FUSE/NNS 4
Fuses serve two main purposes

1. To protect components and equipment from costly damage caused by

overcurrent.
2. To isolate sub-systems from the main system once a fault has
occurred.

Overcurrents
Overcurrents exist when the normal load for a circuit is exceeded. It can
be either an overload or short circuit. An overload is any current flowing
within the normal circuit path that is higher than the circuit normal full
load current.

A short circuit is an overcurrent which greatly exceeds the normal full

load current of the circuit. As the name infers, a short circuit leaves the
normal current carrying path of the circuit and takes a “short-cut” around
the load and back to the power source. Components and equipment can
be damaged by both types of overcurrents.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 5
PSP/FUSE/NNS 6
Mechanism of Operation
A conductor of limited cross – section is heated by current passing
through it until it melts. This takes time, represented by time / current
characteristics. The greater the current, the shorter is the time taken
by the fuse to blow out. [inverse time characteristics]

rms symmetrical prospective current

Inverse Time

Minimum fusing current

Time in seconds

PSP/FUSE/NNS 7
Desirable characteristics of fuse

 Fuse must carry the normal current without overheating.

 At overcurrent (short circuit), it must disconnect the circuit rapidly
by melting fuse element.

To perform above functions, the fuse element should have the

following characteristics:

1. Low melting point (tin, lead)

2. High conductivity (silver, copper)
3. Free from deterioration due to oxidation (silver)
4. Low cost (lead, tin )

No material posses all the characteristics. Therefore a compromise is

made in the selection of material for a fuse.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 8
FUSE ELEMENT
The material used for the fuse element should possess the following
properties:

 Low Melting Point

 High Conductivity
 Free from Oxidation

PSP/FUSE/NNS 9
Material for fuse element
Commonly used materials for fuse element are:

Metal Melting Specific resistance in

point in oC microhm-cm
Tin 230 11.2
Lead 328 21.5
Zinc 419 6.1
Aluminum 670 2.85
Silver 960 1.64
copper 1090 1.72

Experience shows that, materials of low melting point like tin, lead and
zinc are most suitable for fuse element. But having low melting point
have high specific resistance as shown in the table.
For a given current rating, the fuse element made from low melting
point of high specific resistance will have greater diameter and hence,
greater mass of the metal than made from high melting point of low
specific resistance.
PSP/FUSE/NNS 10
 That means, use of low melting point metals for fuse element
introduces the problem of handling excessive mass of vaporized metal
released on fusion.
 For small values of current (up to 10A), an alloy of lead – tin
containing 37% lead and 63% tin is used as an ordinary fuse wire.
 For currents above 15A, lead – tin alloy is not suitable as diameter of
the fuse wire will be large and after fusing, vaporization metal
released will be excessive.
 For larger currents: silver is suitable for fuse element, because it is
not subjected to oxidation and there is no deterioration of material.
But it is costlier.
 Zinc (in strip form): is good for time lag characteristics (does not
melt on overloads)

NOTE
Overall Silver is found to be quite satisfactory as fuse material
because it is not subjected to oxidation. The only drawback is its cost.
Therefore for low range currents lead – tin alloy or copper is used.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 11
Voltage Ratings
The voltage rating of the fuse [given in rms voltage] must be greater
than or equal to the circuit voltage.[Typically 10% above the circuit
voltage] Because the fuse has such low resistance, the voltage rating
becomes critical only when the fuse is trying to open.

Current Ratings
The current [given in amperes rms] it can carry
indefinitely without heating is called rated current of
the fuse.
Each fuse is marked with a nominal current rating.
 The base material of the clip in which the fuse is mounted may greatly affect
the performance of the fuse.
 If the conductor is too small, it will generate a heat rise. That extra heat will
be seen by the fuse, causing the fuse to open before it should.
 The fuse must be installed with clean and tight connections. If the connections
are dirty or loose, they will cause increased resistance, generating extra heat.
That heat will lead to a shortened fuse life.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 12
Interrupting Rating (Breaking Capacity)
A fuse must be able to open the circuit under a short circuit without
losing case integrity. The breaking capacity of a protective device is the
maximum available current, at the rated voltage, that the device can
safely open without rupturing.
 It is the MVA rating of the fuse corresponding to the largest
prospective current which the fuse is capable of breaking at the system
voltage.
Breaking capacity is the maximum short circuit current a fuse can safely
blow without a catastrophic failure such as a fire, breakage or explosion.
 Low and high breaking capacity ratings typically range from 35A up
to 10kA.
 The short circuit condition in the final product determines what fuse
breaking capacity is needed.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 13
Minimum Fusing Current
It is the minimum current at which the fuse element melts. The fusing
current depends upon the following factors:

 Fuse element material

 Length of material
 Shape and area of cross – section of the fuse element
 Size and location of the terminals
 Type of enclosure employed
 Number of strands in the stranded fuse wire

 An approximate value of the minimum fusing current for a round

fuse wire is given by

I  K d3 2
Where K is a constant depending upon the material of the fuse wire.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 14
FUSE LAW [William Henry Preece (15 February 1834 – 6 November 1913)]
When fuse achieve steady state condition
Heat generated  Heat lost due to conduction , convection , radiation . . . (1)
Heat generated  I 2 R Watt . . . ( 2)
Where
I  Current through fuse wire element  fusing current
R  Resistance of the fuse element
Assuming circular shape of fuse element
l l
R     . . . (3)
a  4 d2
Now for a fuse wire diameter d, the heat lost can be obtained as
Heat lost  effective surface area  constant
 d l  constant ... (4)
Substituti ng equation (2) , (3) , and (4) in equation (1) we get
 l 
I 2     d l  constant
2 
  4 d 
 I 2  l   4 d 3 l  constant
constant
 I2  K, d3 Where K , 

 I  K d3
I  K d3 2 ... ( 5)
PSP/FUSE/NNS 15
EXAMPLE
A current of 6A fuses a lead fuse element diameter 0.0195 inch. What
current will fuse a wire of 0.0392 inch?

According to fuse law

I  d3 2
I1 (d1 )3 / 2

I2 (d 2 )3 / 2
As I1  6 A
d1  0.0195 inch
d 2  0.0392 inch
6 (0.0195)3 / 2
 
I2 (0.0392) 3 / 2
I 2  6  2.8502
I 2  17.101 A
PSP/FUSE/NNS 16
FUSING FACTOR
Minimum fusing current
Fusing Factor 
Current rating of fuse

This factor is always more than unity.

Typical values are in the order of 1.5 to 2

 For semi – enclosed or rewireable fuse which employs copper wire

as fuse element has fusing factor 2.

 For totally – enclosed cartridge fuses using silver as a fuse element

has low fusing factor.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 17
The fusing factor is the amount of increase (as a factor) required
beyond the current rating, to operate the fuse.
A fusing factor of 1.5 means that the current rating needs to be
exceeded by a factor of 1.5 before the fuse will operate. A 20A fuse will
therefore require 20 x 1.5 = 30A to operate.

This system was in use up until 1998. Since then it has been superseded
by the utilization category.
PSP/FUSE/NNS 18
UTILIZATION CATEGORY
This system gives a two letter code to indicate the type of fuse and its
characteristics.

The first letter denotes its interrupting capacity:

 g means full range breaking capacity
 a means partial range breaking capacity
The second letter in CAPS indicates the accuracy of the fuse rating and
the type of protection offered:
 G or L means it is used for general applications
 M means that it is to be used for the protection of motor circuits
 D means there is a time delay
 N means that there is no time delay
PSP/FUSE/NNS 19
Prospective Current

The rms value of the first loop of fault current is known as prospective
current.
[It is the rms value of the first loop of the fault current obtained if the
fuse is replaced by an ordinary conductor of negligible resistance].

PSP/FUSE/NNS 20
Cut – Off Current
It is the maximum value of fault current before fuse melts.
On the occurrence of fault, current has a very large first loop, the heat
generated is sufficient to melt the element before it reaches the peak of
first half loop point “a”.
Cut – off current depends on:
 Current rating of fuse
 Value of prospective current
 Asymmetry of short – circuit current

Pre – Arcing time

Time from the start of the fault to the instant the arc is initiated is
known as “pre - arcing” time. Generally pre – arcing time is small, a
typical value is 0.001 sec.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 21
Arcing Time
Time between end of pre – arcing time and the arc is extinguished.

Total operating time

It is the sum of the pre – arcing time and the arcing time.

PSP/FUSE/NNS 22
Time Delay Fuse
A fuse with a built-in time delay that allows temporary and harmless
inrush currents to pass without operating, but is so designed to open on
sustained overloads and short circuits.
 UL listed or recognized time delay fuses typically open in 2 minutes
maximum when subjected to 200% to 250% of rated current. IEC has
two categories of time delay fuses:

 T = Time lag, opens 10 x rated current within 0.01 seconds to 0.1

seconds

 TT = Long time lag, opens 10 x rated current within 0.1 seconds to

1 second

PSP/FUSE/NNS 23
PSP/FUSE/NNS 24
 TYPES OF FUSES

The major two categories of fuses include:

1. Low Voltage Fuses

2. High Voltage Fuses

In order to understand Low voltage fuses better, we can further classify

it further into:

1. Rewireable fuse
2. Totally enclosed or cartridge fuse

PSP/FUSE/NNS 25
1. Rewireable Fuse

Rewireable or blown – out fuse element can be

replaced by a new one. The fuse element can
be either open type or semi – enclosed.
This kind of fuse is most commonly used in the case of domestic wiring
and small scale usage. Another name for this type is the - type fuse.
The main composition is of a porcelain base which holds the wires.
The main advantage of rewireable fuse is easy removal or replacement
without any danger of coming into the contact with a lie part and
negligible replacement cost
Disadvantages
 Unreliable Operations.
 Lack of Discrimination.
 Small time lag.
 Low rupturing capacity.
 No current limiting feature.
 Slow speed of operations

PSP/FUSE/NNS 26
2. Totally enclosed or cartridge fuse

Fuse element is enclosed in a totally enclosed container and is provided

with metal contacts on both sides. This type of fuse also sub – divided
into two type:
a. D – Type Cartridge Fuse
b. Link Type Cartridge Fuse or High Rupturing Capacity (HRC)
Cartridge Fuse

PSP/FUSE/NNS 27
 H.W
Q1. Explain in detail desirable characteristics of fuse.

Q2. What are the two main functions of fuse?

Q3. explain in short

a. Prospective Current
b. Utilization Category
c. Fuse Law

PSP/FUSE/NNS 28
 Fuses Vs Relayed Breakers

PSP/FUSE/NNS 29
 A Study of a Fault…….

PSP/FUSE/NNS 30
 Fault Interruption and Arcing

PSP/FUSE/NNS 31