Wear behavior of high strength and high conductivity Cu alloys under dry sliding

In order to study the wear behavior of different kinds of contact wires,the dry sliding wear behaviors of Cu-Sn,Cu-Ag and Cu-Mg alloys prepared by up-drawn continuous casting and followed continuous extrusion were studied.The research was tested on a block-on-ring wear tester.The results indicate that the friction coefficient is remarkably influenced by the formation of a continuous tribofilm,which consists of oxidation film.The abrasion,adhesion,oxidation and plastic deformation are observed.Oxidation and abrasion wear mechanisms dominate at the lower sliding velocity and load.The combination of oxidation and adhesion play leading roles with the increasing load and velocity.Plastic deformation is detected under higher applied load and sliding velocities.

Pantograph-catenary electrical contact system of high-speed railways:recent progress,challenges,and outlooks

As the unique power entrance,the pantograph-catenary electrical contact system maintains the efficiency and reliability of power transmission for the high-speed train.Along with the fast development of high-speed railways all over the world,some commercialized lines are built for covering the remote places under harsh environment,especially in China;these environmental elements including wind,sand,rain,thunder,ice and snow need to be considered during the design of the pantograph-catenary system.The pantograph-catenary system includes the pantograph,the contact wire and the interface—pantograph slide.As the key component,this pantograph slide plays a critical role in reliable power transmission under dynamic condition.The fundamental material characteristics of the pantograph slide and contact wire such as electrical conductivity,impact resistance,wear resistance,etc.,directly determine the sliding electrical contact performance of the pantograph-catenary system;meanwhile,different detection methods of the pantograph-catenary system are crucial for the reliability of service and maintenance.In addition,the challenges brought from extreme operational conditions are discussed,taking the Sichuan-Tibet Railway currently under construction as a special example with the high-altitude climate.The outlook for developing the ultra-high-speed train equipped with the novel pantograph-catenary system which can address the harsher operational environment is also involved.This paper has provided a comprehensive review of the high-speed railway pantograph-catenary systems,including its progress,challenges,outlooks in the history and future.

Influence of RE on Ageing Precipitate Characteristics and Softening Resistance of Copper Alloys Contact Wire

The effect of RE （such as Ce, Y and mixed Ce ＋ Y, etc） on ageing precipitate, characteristics and softening resistance of Cu-Cr-Zr alloys contact wire used in electrical railway were investigated in this paper. The results show that the tested Cu-Cr-Zr alloy with trace RE addition could attain higher microhardness and lower electrical conductivity to some extent after being soluted at 950 ℃ for 1 h and aged at 480 ℃. The precipitation process of secondary phase could be accelerated by cold working before ageing treatment which resulted in ageing hardening. Aged at 480 ℃ after 60% cold working, the values of electrical conductivity and microhardness improved significantly compared with that without deformation. The mixed RE （Ce ＋ Y） improved the softening resistance substantially in these trace RE additions, which could increase the soften temperature by 45 ℃.