Technical Resource Increase of Current-Collecting Friction Pairs

Abstract

The level of electrified railways reliability depends on the reliability and durability of the individual objects of power supply system and the locomotive facilities, in turn, the current collection quality depends on design of contact network and pantographs, contact wires materials, contact strips and external influencing factors.

Increasing velocity of the electric rolling stock exacerbates the problem of improving the current collection quality, becomes an actual task of increasing the resource friction pair “ contact wire—contact strip” for mainline railways.

The most costly in the operation of the electrified railway transport are maintenance and repair of contact networks and pantographs. The costs magnitude depends on the catenary type, electric rolling stock, materials of the friction pair "contact wire—contact strip" and environment parameters. For today there is no consensus regarding the choice of the pantograph contact strips type for the specific operating conditions of the electric rolling stock. Therefore, the resource elements of the friction pair inefficiently are used. A solution to this problem would be to a forecasting method of friction pairs wear of the current collection. Which together with the device for determining the parameters of coal collector elements allows achieving an increase technical resource of the contact wires and coal contact strips, reduce the capital and operating costs for their replacement and repair by reducing the negative impact of the basic physical and electrical parameters scatter of contact strips. It will also allow increasing the productivity of the maintenance staff by eliminating the need to reassembly worn-out contact strips, for repeated use and installation of inserts of a contact wire in places of its increased intensity of wear.