27-07-2011, 04:54 PM
SUBMITTED BY-
ASHISH KUMAR
GAURAV MISHRA
SATYENDRA KUSHWAHA
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SUMMER TRAINING REPORT ON COMMUTATOR AND BRUSH FAILURE
ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE SHED KANPUR
ABOUT THE ELECTRIC LOCO SHED KANPUR
The Electric loco shed, Kanpur was established during the year 1965 for homing 11 locomotives. This shed was commissioned primarily to meet the requirement of passenger and goods traffic over Indian railways. At present the shed has been expended suitably to home 176 loco motives for hauling, passenger and goods traffic. The shed is responsible for carrying out monthly inspection schedule viz. IA, IB, IC, I0 & ICO in addition to annual and intermediate overhauling schedules.
OPERATION OF LOCOMOTIVE
The electric locomotive basically works at 25 KV, 50Hz supply. The 25KV AC supply is drawn from overhead catenaries wires. The supply from overhead wires are drawn through a pantograph inside the loco transformer. This transformer is an autotransformer from which regulated voltage is taken to a rectifier block for conversion from AC to DC .It may be worth mentioning that the final tractive effort is through DC traction motor hence AC is required to be converted to DC. The DC current from rectifier block is then filtered to pure DC and then fed to traction motor.
There are 6 traction motors which works parallel to provide the attractive effort for hauling the train.
All the operations are controlled through control circuit which works at 110 volt DC. Various power equipments during operation gets heated up and hence to cool the same, it is done by various blowers.
Different Equipments in an Electrical Locomotive
1) Pantograph It is pneumatically operated equipment mounted on the roof for collection of current from overhead wire. 2) Main Transformer It is an autotransformer which is utilized for drawing various grades of voltage required for operation of locomotive. 3) Rectifier This unit consists of rectifier diodes connected in bridge for conversion of AC current to DC current.
…contd
4) Traction Motor The traction motor is one of the most important equipment in the locomotive which transmits power to wheels for moving the trains. 5) Auxiliary Circuit This Circuit is three phase 415 volts which supplies current to various three phase induction motors used for driving blowers for forced air cooling of major equipments like transformer, rectifier, smoothing reactor and traction motor. This 3 phase line voltage is supplied by either static converter or Rotary ARNO Converter. 6) ARNO Converter Arno converter , is specific-duty machine for conversion of a single-phase supply into a three-phase supply. While the electric traction supply is standardized as single-
…contd
7) Control Circuit The control circuit is purely 110 volt DC and the most important network for handling various operational feature of the locomotive. All the power equipment and auxiliary circuit equipment are controlled through various switches in 110 volt circuit provided in the driving cab. All the circuit and equipment in the high voltage power side & auxiliary circuit equipment and the control circuit is protected against overloading, short circuiting and earth fault. For this purpose various relays have been used as protection device so as to protect the circuit from any mal functioning.
8) Battery All trains are provided with a battery to provide start up current and for supplying essential circuits, such as emergency lighting, when the line supply fails. The battery is usually connected across the DC control supply circuit
…contd
9) Chopper Control A development in electric traction control which eliminates the need for power resistors by causing the voltage to the traction motors to be switched on and off (chopped) very rapidly during acceleration. It is accomplished by the use of thyristors and will give up to 20% improvement in efficiency over conventional resistance control. 10) Circuit Breaker An electric train is almost always provided with some sort of circuit breaker to isolate the power supply when there is a fault, or for maintenance. On AC systems they are usually on the roof near the pantograph. There are of two types - the air blast circuit breaker and the vacuum circuit breaker or VCB. The air or vacuum part is used to
…Contd (diff. equipments)
11) Transformer A set of windings with a magnetic core used to step down or step up a voltage from one level to another. The voltage differences are determined by the proportion of windings on the input side compared with the proportion on the output side. An essential requirement for locomotives and trains using AC power, where the line voltage has to be stepped down before use on the train. 12) Transistor The original electronic solid state device capable of controlling the amount of current flowing as well as switching it on and off. In the last few years, a powerful version has been applied to railway traction in the form of the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). Its principle advantage over the GTO Thyristor is its speed of switching and that its controls require much smaller current levels.
Installation Steps (Carbon Brush)
1-Disconnect the power to the machine using approved lock-out procedures.
2. Remove all old brushes from the holders. Make Note of any unusual conditions of the brushes including roughness or burning of the contact face, Polished sides on the carbon, excess heat on the wires, or frayed shunt wires. Unusual brush conditions are indications of the need for and improved brush design or for maintenance on the machine.
3. Inspect the commutator for unusual conditions for high bars and mica. Make note for required maintenance.
4. Check the inside holder cavity for dust, dirt, oil, deposits, carbon buildup,corrosion, or burned areas and clean as needed.
5. Check the terminal connection area and clean, as needed
…Contd
6. Brush holders should be secured to their mount and checked that none have become loosened or are out of alignment.
7. Measure spring forces to ensure there is consistent contact force at the recommended level. Use the measured force to calculate the spring pressure for comparison with recommended level of 4.0+ PSI.
8. Remove the old film from the brush tracks, if the new brushes are made from a different grade. Dry untreated canvas applied with a pressure block or a rubber abrasive. Seater stone can be used as an alternative.
However, the remaining dust must be vacuumed or
blown out of the machine.
9. Install new brushes in all holders with attention to the orientation on angled designs.Ensure that the
brushes can move freely in the radial direction and that there is a relatively close fit in the tangential and axial directions.
10. Apply the pressure spring to the top of the brush.
…Contd
11. Pull up on the brush and allow to gently return to contact with the commutator or ring to ensure
there is no binding of the brush and spring.
12. Connect the terminals. Be sure all terminal connections are tight and secure.
13. Seat the brushes to the contour of the commutator using non-metal bearing sandpaper or garnet paper. Do NOT use emery. Medium coarse grade paper pulled under the brush face in the direction of rotation improves the quality of the brush contact surface and speeds the process. There should be at least 90% of the brush face seated to the contour of the contact sur face prior to operating the machine at load. Once this level has been achieved, then the resulting dust in the machine around the brushes, holders, and commutator should be vacuumed or blown out.
14. Operate the machine at no load for the final wear-in contour of the contact surfaces in order to ensure complete electrical contact of the brushes. This procedure allows the brush to make intimate contact in its operating position in the holder.
15. The machine is ready for use. The film process on the contact sur face can be enhanced with the
…contd
use of an untreated hardwood burnishing block or a rubber polishing stone. This procedure can reduce the high friction and brush dust developed during the initial film forming period.
NOTE: In some cases time allotment, operating conditions, or performance issues may require the replacement of less than a full set of brushes without normal seating. Then, it is especially important to adhere to step 11 with extended operation at no-load. Shortcuts on procedures for brush installation will result in excess electrical damage to the brush face and the contact surface.
Causes of Commutation Failure
1-Streaking
2-Threading
3-Bar Edge Burning
4-Grooving
5-Slot Bar Marking
6-Photographing
7-Copper Drag
Streaking
• Low or unequal spring pressure
• Low current loads
• Contaminated atmosphere
• High humidity
• Copper particle pickup from commutator
THREADING
• Low or unequal spring pressur
• Contaminated atmosphere
• High humidity
• Uneven current distribution
• Conditions have been maintained for a long period of time and caused commutator damage
BAR EDGE BURNING
Causes
Low or unequal spring pressure
Incorrect brush alignment / off neutral
Wrong brush grade
Sparking caused by commutation problems
Incorrect interpole strength.
Grooving
Causes
• Low or unequal spring pressure
• Contaminated atmosphere
• Low humidity and temperature
• Abrasive brush grade
SLOT BAR MARKING
Causes
• Low or unequal spring pressure
• Excess vibration
• Wrong brush grade
• Commutator becomes overheated and softened
• High Friction
Copper Drag
Causes
• Uneven current distribution in armature windings
• Unequal number of windings in adjacent slots
• Inconsistency in armature windings related to number of coils, slots, and commutator bars.
Carbon Brush Failure
The most common cause of carbon brush failure is incorrect spring tension. Once the proper force is applied, grade selection can be fine-tuned to ensure optimum brush and machine performance. For reference, the chart below indicates the recommended ranges of spring pressure for various applications and the method of calculating spring pressure from the measured spring force.
Spring Pressure
Industrial D.C Applications 4-6 psi 280-420 g/cm2
WRIM & Sync. Rings 3.5-4.5 psi 240-310 g/cm2
High Speed Turbine Rings
…Contd
Soft Graphite Grades 2.5-3.5 psi 170-240 g/cm2
Metal Graphite Brushes 4.5-5.5 psi 310-390 g/cm2
FHP Brushes 4-7 psi 280-490 g/cm2
Traction Brushes 5-8 psi 350-560 g/cm2
For brushes with top and bottom angles greater than
25 degrees, add an extra .5-1 psi = 35-70 g/cm2
Spring press. force(P.S.I.) = Measured Force (lbs.)
Pressure Brush Thickness (in.) X BrushWidth (in.)
Conclusions
Traditionally, locomotives pull trains from the front. Increasingly common is push-pull operation, where a locomotive pulls the train in one direction and pushes it in the other, and can be controlled from a control cab at the other end of the train.
Like great books, no project is created entirely by an individual. There are many people involved in this project too and have helped a lot right from the beginning till the completion of our project. Any bouquets for the merits in this project should go to our door. Any brickbats we are ready to catch ourselves.
It is with a great sincerity, we convey our heartfull gratitude to our Mr. Mohammad Israr, Supervisor, Electric Loco Shed, Kanpur, for his excellent guidance, valuable advice and ample co-operation throughout the training. It is a proud privilege to have availed of the opportunity of guidance.
…Contd
We are thankful to Mr.S .K. PANDEY too, for their excellent cooperation during our training for the proper response of the machine. We are grateful to all the railway employees
