Influence of Surface Roughness of Sliding Friction Pairs on Pantograph–Catenary Contact Resistance

Abstract

Pantograph-catenary systems are the key equipment for current conduction from power grids to electric locomotives, and within such a system, the property of the slide, especially the contact resistance ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_j</i> ), directly affects its current collection performance. Compared to previous studies, this paper focuses on the microscopic roughness parameters which affects <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_j</i> greatly. The changing rule of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_j</i> under different roughness conditions is studied on 128 groups of data collected from experiments. More importantly, the second-order partial correlation coefficient is introduced to quantify the impact strength of different roughness parameters on <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_j</i> . Based on this, a multi-parameter influence model of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_j</i> is established and verified by non-linear fitting. The results show that the impact strength of the relevant roughness parameters is ranked as <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_pc</i> > <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_p</i> > <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_sm</i> . The conclusion provides a theoretical basis for minimizing pantograph-catenary <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R_j</i> and improving current collection quality. Moreover, it facilitates slide material selection and contributes to new prototype design.