Analysis of the pantograph’s mass distribution affecting the contact quality in high-speed railway

Abstract

ABSTRACT The pantograph–catenary system is an essential device, transmitting electric energy to high-speed trains. The sliding contact quality between the collector strip and the contact wire must be strictly required, keeping the good current collection quality. In this work, the displacements of two independent tension wires are described by the Fourier sine-series expansions separately. The Lagrange equation of the second kind is used to establish the dynamic equation of the catenary, which is solved by the central difference method. A multi-rigid body dynamics theory based on the relative coordinates is adopted, describing the dynamic behaviour of the pantograph. Three types of mass distribution strategies applied to the main structure of the pantograph are discussed. The mass distribution of the main structure has a large effect on the pantograph–catenary interaction, and the maximum reduction ratio of the standard deviation (STD) of the dynamic contact force reaches −35.62%, which is significant for the pantograph’s structural optimization in high-speed railways.