Dynamic performance of a pantograph–catenary system with consideration of the contact surface

Abstract

The influence of contact surface upon the dynamic performance of a pantograph–catenary system is a question that has been highlighted by the increasing use of high speed railways. Using the mode-superposition method, we establish a pantograph–catenary-coupled dynamics model with consideration of the contact surface; we analyse the characteristics of the contact surface based on a large amount of measured data; and we determine the characteristic parameters according to their influence upon the system dynamic performance. The results show that the contact wire irregularity contains a periodic component formed by gravity and a random component formed by wear, local assembly errors, hardpoints and the like. Periodic and low-frequency random irregularities mainly lead to the increase in contact force amplitude at peak points with wavelengths submultiple of the tension length, span or dropper spacing. On the contrary, high-frequency random irregularity has a great influence upon the amplitude of all frequencies and is the main factor leading to the deterioration of the system dynamic performance. The contact strip wear surface achieves quadratic function fitting, and we propose two characteristic quantities of this surface, namely, shape parameter A, and wear depth B. The wear surface of contact strip enhances the periodic characteristics of pantograph–catenary system of each span, leading to the amplitude increase of the contact force in frequency with span submultiple wavelength. The bigger the absolute value of the shape parameter, the poorer the dynamic performance. According to the criteria of the contact force eigenvalues, we determine the threshold value of the contact strip shape parameter A, and the contact wire irregularity amplitude of each frequency. The threshold given in this paper can be used in the condition assessment of parts, and make judgements on whether a servicing is needed, which is part of the technologies for informationisation and intelligent high-speed train health management.