Lightning Protection Research and Simulation of High-Speed Railway Catenary

Abstract

The existing high-speed railway in China is erected on the viaduct. The traction power supply system of high-speed railway consists of catenary with auto-transformer (AT). The catenary above the rails is supported by towers besides the rails. As the increase of the height from top of towers to ground, the probability of the pilot discharging of lightning to catenary will increase. And the pilot striking distance to ground always remains constant. So the horizons shielding effects for catenary will decrese, and the whole catenary naked in the atmosphere extremely easily struck by thunderbolt. In the important places, e.g., substation and areas of frequent lightning, the lightning arrester is installed to limit lightning overvoltage. But the lightning arrester can limit local overvoltage only. In fact, high-speed railway struck by lightning has affected the safety of power supply system in China. So more reasonable lightning protection measures for Chinas high-speed railway will be studied in this paper.