The Open Mechanical Engineering Journal

2014, 8 : 125-128
Published online 2014 April 18. DOI: 10.2174/1874155X20140501005
Publisher ID: TOMEJ-8-125

Study on Friction and Wear Properties of Pantograph Strip/Copper Contact Wire for High-Speed Train

Tao Ding , Wenjing Xuan , Qiudong He , Hao Wu and Wei Xiong
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan 432000, China.

ABSTRACT

A series of experiments on friction and wear properties of carbon strip rubbing against copper contact wire is performed on high-speed friction and wear tester with electric current. The results show that the friction coefficient is generally maintained between 0.24 and 0.37. In the absence of electric current, the coefficient of friction is higher than that in the presence of electric current. The wear rate of carbon strip materials is generally not more than 0.014g/km. In particular, the wear rate under the electric current of 240 A is 14 times more than that in the absence of electric current. By observing the scar of worn surface with optical microscope, it can be found that there are obvious slip scars and arc erosive pits. The dominated wear mechanisms are abrasive wear and arc erosion in electrical sliding frictional process.

Keywords:

Arc erosion, friction and wear, high-speed.