Kang Yuan New Materials Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the China Railway Construction Electrification Bureau Group, based in Jingjiang city – a county-level city administered by Taizhou city, in East China's Jiangsu province – is leading the way in high-speed infrastructure.
It recently compiled a new national standard for copper and copper alloys for electric locomotives.
The company is a key provider of high-speed rail catenary wire services and has actively contributed to international and national industry standards. The catenary is a special power supply line built along the track to provide electrical energy for high-speed trains.
A view of Kang Yuan New Materials Co Ltd's plant in Jingjiang. [Photo/zhjjwx.jsjjw.cn]
The standard, GB/T20509-2023, addresses the shortcomings of the previous national standard by expanding the range of copper alloy grades and improving performance indicators. It will be officially implemented on Dec 1.
The standard now includes tin copper, magnesium copper, chromium copper and more – providing better guidance for the quality of copper and copper alloy wire billets, used for contact materials in electric locomotives.
One of the key advancements is the inclusion of magnesium-copper alloy blanks, filling a gap in the application of this alloy in the field of electrified railways.
The new standard has already been adopted by all copper and copper alloy contact lines in China, with a 100 percent adoption rate.
The mechanical and electrical properties of these materials not only meet the requirements of the national standard for copper and copper alloy contact lines for electrified railways (TB/T2809-2017), but are also reported to surpass the requirements of the European standard (EN50149) and reach an international advanced level.