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 paper 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 multi-parameter influence model of
R_j
is established and verified by non-linear 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.