STUDY OF A PLASMA TORCH FOR IMPROVING ADHESION. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF PLASMA TORCH EQUIPMENT

In extensive laboratory and track trials the plasma torch has been demonstrated as a tool for improving wheel-rail adhesion at speeds up to 48 km/h. The plasma treatment was found to be effective under a wide range of climatic conditions with contaminants generally found on the British Railways network. These included oil, grease, diesel fuel, coal dust and fallen leaves. In view of this success, a vehicle, to be put into service on British Railways, has been designed and is now under construction. This will be used mainly on the coal haulage routes where low adhesion is frequently encountered. This plasma car will operate independently of the freight locomotives and will act as a rail conditioning vehicle.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Restrictions on the use of this document are contained in the explanatory material.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Union of Railways

  Office of Research and Experiments
  Utrecht,   Netherlands 
• Publication Date: 1970-4

Media Info

• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: 19 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adhesion; Car wheels (Railroads); Coal; Coal industry; Freight traffic; Plasma arc cutting; Rail (Railroads); Tests; Train track dynamics; Wheel slip; Wheels
• Identifier Terms: British Rail
• Old TRIS Terms: Plasma generators; Plasma torch; Question b114
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00052980
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: International Union of Railways
• Report/Paper Numbers: B114/RP 1/E
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 26 1976 12:00AM