Abstract: Under the arc erosion,material transfer occurs between pantograph and catenary,which aggravates the loss of pantograph and catenary materials,and seriously affects the flow quality of the pantograph-catenary system.It not only limits the further improvement of the train running speed,but even endangers the safety of train operation.In this paper,the arc ablation experiment under different polarities was carried out based on the arc ablation experimental platform.The following conclusions can be drawn by combining the motion characteristics of the arc,the surface morphology of the electrode,and the ablative quantity.Under the arc erosion,the material transfer phenomenon of the anode is more obvious.When copper is used as the anode,as the current increases,the molten copper on the surface of the copper electrode drops onto the pantograph strip due to its own gravity exceeding the surface binding force,and the copper electrode undergoes obvious material transfer behavior.When carbon is used as the anode,carbon accumulates on the surface of the copper electrode to form carbon bumps,and the carbon electrode undergoes obvious material transfer behavior.

Key words: arc erosion, splashing, material transfer, ablation crater