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Markets & products

Railway

Markets & products

Railway

Railway industry

Casram has been manufacturing electrical contacts and electromechanical parts for more than sixty years. Its lengthy experience in working metals like copper, silver, and tungsten, along with the careful attention paid to each individual working phase, engineering and machining, allows Casram SA since the beginnings to produce high quality components. As a result, Casram has become the leader at a European level, for the manufacture of electrical contacts and components for rolling stock.  The quality and reliability of Casram SA products is recognized and appreciated by the major rolling stock first equipment manufacturers. Contacts, flexible connections, arc extinguish chambers, insulators, brush holders, carbon brushes, trolley current collectors, earthing devices as well as service and repair for railway and other industries – that’s what Casram’s core business is all about.

Electrical contacts

Casram products are particularly sought-after where no compromise can be accepted in terms of safety and reliability. For this particular range of electrical contacts, realized in large, medium and small series, we use different customized manufacturing processes. The contact tips, for example, usually based on silver, or from powder metallurgy provenience, can be flame brazed or induction brazed. To resist the arc load that appears when opening and closing an electric circuit, we generally use copper of high density and conductivity. Approximately 80% of Casram’s production is dedicated to the electric railway industry, specifically locomotives, trolley bus, tram, light rail, metro and substations. Also, Casram is specialized in regeneration of used contacts. Our offer includes the machining of a wide range of materials, such as electrolytic copper, copper beryllium, brass, aluminium, silver, silver cadmium oxide, silver tin oxide, silver nickel, tungsten, bronze etc.

Flexible connections

All types of flexible connections made of braided copper, in different lengths and sizes, are part of Casram’s product range. Our offer particularly includes tubular and flat braids – also in tin-plated copper, round braids, flat and round earthing conductors, lamellar flexible connections with press brazed end sections (DIN 42276), flexible connections of copper braid with rounded ends in tin-plated copper or silver, as well as flat flexible connections for high tension with round tin-plated copper or silver endings.

Insulating material

Casram manufactures arc extinguish chambers and spark catchers with glass bounded mica. The specific machining characteristics of this insulating material allow us to produce arc chutes for new applications and to replace obsolete products made of ceramic or asbestos containing material. With our material, we guarantee exraordinary electrical and mechanical features.

Carbon brushes and brush holders

This specialized business unit of Casram provides numerous types of carbon brushes, such as brushes for industrial motors, midget carbon brushes for micromotors and electric tools, carbon sliders for trolley current collectors, forklifts, electric automobiles etc. Carbon brushes for earthing devices (ground return), carbon rolls for stepless regulating and slide transformers, sealing and piston carbon rings, carbons for pantograph collectors and auxiliary motors etc. We distinguish hard carbon grades, graphite grades, electrographite, metal graphite and silver graphite grades.

An integrated part of this business is the production of brush-holders for traction motors, auxiliary and industrial motors in the following versions: Single, double and triple brush-holders, single and double leg brush-holders, flange brush-holders, brush rockers, tubular brush-holders with caps or special springs, telescope brush-holders etc.

Trolley current collectors

Casram develops and produces different trolley current collectors. These engineered products are designed upon specific requirements of our customers. The range also includes the terminal section of the rod, mechanical parts, sliding shoes in bronze or other copper alloys, flexible connections and carbon sliders. These current collectors are compatible with all major systems present today on the market and can replace, without any modification, systems on existing vehicles. Customized versions can be designed to solve issues related to current collection, or upon customer’s requests.

Earthing Devices

Casram develops and produces different earthing systems, on the basis of the customer requirements, for train, metro light rail or tramway applications.
Our company has decades of experience in the development and production of such systems, in close collaboration with our customers in order to customize all features, from functions to the selection of materials. More technical details are available upon request.