Research on arc erosion damage characteristics of carbon material in rail traffic engineering

Abstract

In rail traffic engineering, the pantograph strip is the device for high-speed trains to obtain power energy, which is a part of the electric contact system. The system consists of catenary wire whose main material is copper, and pantograph strip whose main material is carbon. The arc often occurs on the carbon strip. As the speed of high-speed trains increases, the impact and vibration of the electric contact system intensify, which increases more arc. The electric erosion of arc is an important factor in the damage of pantograph carbon strip, so it is urgent to do the study of its damage characteristics. In this paper, pure electric carbon material is used, instead of pantograph carbon strip, and pure copper material is used, instead of catenary wire in the arc erosion experiment. The damage process of pure carbon material was analyzed during arc burning, by adjusting the arc burning time length between catenary wire and pantograph strip, that is between pure copper bar and pure carbon strip. The influence of arc erosion is discussed, which is on the appearances, electrical and mechanical properties of pure carbon material. With the increase of arc burning time, the surface erosion degree of the pure carbon material increases, and the electrical and mechanical properties of the carbon material weaken. This research will be helpful for finding effective measures to decrease the arc erosion of pure carbon material and prolong its service life.