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

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 ( $R_{j}$ ), directly affects its current collection performance. Compared to previous studies, this article focuses on the microscopic roughness parameters, which affects $R_{j}$ greatly. The changing rule of $R_{j}$ 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 $R_{j}$ . Based on this, a multiparameter influence model of $R_{j}$ is established and verified by nonlinear fitting. The results show that the impact strength of the relevant roughness parameters is ranked as $R_{pc}>R_{p}>R_{sm}$ . The conclusion provides a theoretical basis for minimizing pantograph–catenary $R_{j}$ and improving current collection quality. Moreover, it facilitates slide material selection and contributes to new prototype design.

I. Introduction

Sliding electrical contact is the main form of current conduction in an electrified railway pantograph–catenary system. The performance of the slide directly affects the current collection quality of electric locomotives [1]. When electrical energy transmits through the catenary wire to the pantograph slide, the actual electrical contact relies on several scattered small contact points, which form the main current path. The change in the surface roughness of a slide directly affects the size and number of these small contact spots, further affects the effective current-receiving area between the friction pairs, and, finally, leads to the change in pantograph–catenary contact resistance () and even the current conduction mechanism. Essentially, and the current conduction mechanism are the two key factors affecting the electrical contact performance of the pantograph–catenary [1]. Therefore, it is very important to study the effect of contact surface roughness between sliding friction pairs on the of pantograph–catenary.