Study on wear performance and mechanism of pantograph contact strip that contact with damaged contact wire under ambient humidity

Abstract

Studies have focused on the significant impact of contact wire damage on the abnormal wear of pantograph contact strips. Initially, based on field data analysis, identify the most common types of contact wire damage. Subsequently, experiments and wear performance analysis of contact strip that contact with damaged contact wire were conducted under high and low humidity, respectively. Finally, correlation analysis was employed to explore the influence of various factors on strip wear performance. The results indicate that excessive wear occurs on the contact strip with pitted contact wire (PC), particularly under low humidity, where the strip wear rate is 2.2 times higher than that contact with normal contact wire (NC). While contact with PC, the primary wear mechanisms of the contact strip include material transfer and arcing ablation under high humidity, but involve material transfer, arcing ablation, and microcutting under low humidity. Correlation analysis results show that under low humidity, the parameters related to PC have the greatest impact on the wear rate of the contact strip, with a significant increase in mechanical wear proportion. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that both contact wire damage and reduced humidity contribute to more severe abnormal wear of the contact strip, with the influence of PC conditions being more excessive wear than that of reduced humidity on wear performance.