It is the voltage that appears across the contacts of the circuit breaker during the arcing period.
As soon as the contacts of the circuit breaker separate, an arc is formed. The voltage that appears across the contacts during arcing period is called the arc voltage. Its value is low except for the period the fault current is at or near zero current point. At current zero, the arc voltage rises rapidly to peak value and this peak voltage tends to maintain the current flow in the form of arc.
