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Influence of Water on the Tribological Behavior of Collector Materials against Railway Contact Wires at High Sliding Speeds

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Advanced Tribology
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Abstract

The crossing of the electric current in rail lines through a copper/QCr0.5 sliding contact worked nakedly in ambient environment and its tribological properties were influenced by atmospheric conditions, such as weather variations of rain or snow. The influence of water on the tribological behavior is made in evidence and analyzed. Wear tests were carried out in laboratory with a special sliding wear apparatus, which simulated the tribological conditions of sliding current collectors on overhead wires in the railway system, in different environments: water fog, atmosphere and oxygen. SEM (scanning electron microscope) and EDS (energy dispersive spectrums analysis) were used to observe the morphology of contact surface of the strips and analyze the compositions of contact surface. Compared with the atmospheric conditions, the strip had a lower wear rate and friction coefficient with the effect of cooling and lubrication of the water, although it can increase the frequency of the electric arcs. The strip surface was oxidized under the water fog ambient conditions, as in the oxygen environment. Oxidative wear and arc erosion were the dominant wear mechanisms in water fog environment during the electrical sliding processes.

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Correspondence to L. M. Sun .

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© 2009 Tsinghua University Press, Beijing and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Sun, L.M., Hu, D.C., Shangguan, B., Zhang, Y.Z. (2009). Influence of Water on the Tribological Behavior of Collector Materials against Railway Contact Wires at High Sliding Speeds. In: Luo, J., Meng, Y., Shao, T., Zhao, Q. (eds) Advanced Tribology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03653-8_343

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03653-8_343

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-03652-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-03653-8

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