Extended Pantograph–Catenary Arc Modeling and an Analysis of the Vehicular-Grounding Electromagnetic Transients of Electric Multiple Units

Abstract

As the operating speed of electric multiple units (EMUs) in high-speed railways increases, pantograph–catenary (PC) detachment arcing occurs frequently. The resulting vehicular-grounding electromagnetic transients are related to the dynamic characteristics of the arc length. During large detachment, the processes of arc extinction and arc reignition may occur, resulting in more severe train body (TB) over-voltages and adverse effects on some vehicular electronic devices. As an extension of the previous works, this paper aims to establish a suitable PC arc model to examine the TB transient voltages. To begin with, the arc length dynamic characteristics are reasonably analyzed to deduce the relationship between the detachment distance and the arc length via the chain arc model. Then, the dynamic characteristics of the arc length are introduced, and an arc modeling scheme is proposed to elaborate the vehicle-grid electric power model for EMUs encountering various arcing scenarios. Based on this, the transient over-voltages are analyzed, accounting for both the arc extinction and arc reignition, as well as the mutual influences of multiple detachments in a short time. The influential factors, including arc length characteristics, phase angle, excitation inductance, and grounding parameters, are also involved in the performed analyses.