2008 Volume 49 Issue 4 Pages 244-249
Plain bearings equipped with railway freight cars frequently suffered from surface damage caused by electrical current. This paper describes a newly developed earth device as designed to prevent electrical conduction in such bearings. The developed earth device can be installed on existing freight car axle boxes and readily assembled and removed upon regular inspection. In a durability test for electrical conduction until 21,600 km equivalent journey distance, the electrical resistance of the earth device was 100 - 300 mΩ. It also satisfied the requirements of a durability test for mechanical vibration in accordance with JIS E 4031.