An improvement of manufacturing process using 3D printing technology for overhead line components on railway electrification

Abstract

In an electric railway, an overhead contact system (OCS) is assembled with many components, and it maintains a voltage of 25 kV to supply electricity to the electric trains. As electric trains grow faster, the overhead line comes to employ a diverse range of materials to deliver electricity and maintain high tension. Overhead lines supply electricity to electric trains through mechanical contact with a pantograph, and since they are not fault-tolerant, they require high reliability. That makes it take a long time to develop and supply components and also makes it difficult and time consuming to apply new materials or new designs to components. This study proposes a manufacturing process for overhead line components using 3D printing technology. For this, a clevis terminal clamp for high-speed railway was chosen and a design drawing was created with 3D scanning. For molding, additive manufacturing technology was used. The study castings were obtained by applying precision casting and sand mold casting methods, respectively, and their elongation and tensile strength were compared with products made with a traditional method.