The in‐situ observation of friction and wear phenomena under electric current

In electric railroads, the wear of contact strips and trolley wires is a major problem. However, the high voltage and large current make it difficult to investigate the contact members. Therefore, we observe the friction under exposure to electric current with much smaller values than the actual conditions on a railroad. Throughout our experiments, we investigate the influence of electric current and contact loss between contact members and of friction and wear. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.