WAYS OF INCREASING THE RANGE OF APPLICATION OF POWDER METALLURGY PARTS IN DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE CONSTRUCTION

motive parts produced at the plant increased 6.6 times, while the number of types of standard parts increased 3.4 times. During the first two years of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, the weight of parts used grew 1.4 times, attaining 55 tons in 1972. In 1973, the plant's estimated demand for parts produced by powder metallurgy techniques totaled one and a half million items. Each year, savings were made as a result of cuts in production costs made possible by the adoption of new powder metallurgy parts. The savings amounted to 116,100 rubles during the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan and 39,000 rubles in the first two years of the Ninth Five-Year Plan (Fig. 1). Some of the parts used are shown in Fig. 2. Powder metallurgy materials are now used in the manufacture of 40 types of standard parts, including bushings of the louvers, brake linkage, spring suspension, and valves and seats of the oil system. Increased locomotive speeds and powers and the need for longer lives in parts operating in heavily stressed units of locomotives had necessitated comprehensive research and development work with the aim of improving the physical and mechanical properties of existing materials and developing new materials and fabrication processes which had not previously found application in industry.