Wear Test for Stainless Steel Cladding of Composite Rail with Copper Impregnated Graphite Collector Shoe

The tribological characteristics of a composite conductor rail with a metal impregnated graphite collector shoe used in metro power supply system were researched on a modified pin-on-disc tester with an electrical current applied across the sliding interface. The morphologies of worn surfaces were observed and analyzed by means of optical microscope and surface profiler. Experiment results show that wear losses of the collector shoe increase and friction coefficients decrease with increase in velocity. Surface profile analysis shows that wear depth of the conductor rail increases with increase in sliding speed, but the loss is much less than that of the collector shoe. Hardness of the stainless steel cladding slightly increases with increase in speed. Graphite material from the collector shoe has a function of self-lubricating, thereby, improves the friction characteristics between the friction pairs.