Simulation on electrical resistance of sliding electrical contact in pantograph-catenary system

Abstract

The contact resistance between the pantograph slide and the contact wire is a key parameter to characterize the current quality of the pantograph-catenary system. In order to analyse the influence of contact pressure, sliding speed, current, and physical performance parameters of the slide on the contact resistance under high current and high speed. The contact resistance simulation model of pantograph-catenary system was established by using the COMSOL Multiphysics software, the validity of the model is verified by experiments and the simulation results show that under the simulation conditions of high speed and high current, the contact resistance decreases with the increase of contact pressure and current, and increases linearly with the increase of sliding speed. Under the same simulation conditions, the contact resistance decreases with the increase of conductivity and thermal conductivity of the pantograph slide. When the hardness of the slide increases, the contact resistance shows a trend of rapid increase first and then slowdown.