Thermical study of an electrical sliding link represeting a catenary pantograh system

Abstract

The electrical sliding link between the catenary and the pantograph of the train is subjected to high requirements for maintenance and expensive failures due to breakages, wear and excessive heat. High current flows in this system, whereas the electrical contact resistance is high and the contact not always stable, creating heat and wear from electrical arcs and Joule effect. In this paper, multiple experiments have been led at different contact force, current and speed levels by using a dedicated test bench. This one is able to reproduce the electrical sliding contact between the pantograph strip and the contact wire of the catenary. The present study is focused on the temperature that the system could reach and its correlation with main influential factors such as the contact force, the electrical current and the train speed. The results show that a low contact force impacts strongly the temperature and the power loss by generating repetitive and strong arc discharges.