Dynamic Analysis of the Pantograph-Cantenary, Interaction on Overlap Sections for High-Speed Railway Operations

Today, railway vehicles with electrical traction are the most economical, ecological and safe means of transportation. However they rely on the supply of the proper amount of energy to run their engines. The pantograph and catenary are the mechanical systems responsible to ensure for the energy collection representing a crucial element for train reliability. The quality of the current collection is of fundamental importance as the loss of contact and consequent arching, not only limits the top velocity of high-speed trains but also implies the deterioration of the functional conditions of this mechanical equipment. Through a catenary system the overlap section represents a critical zone on the contact quality, having the responsibility to provide a smooth transition between subsequent catenaries. The study described in this paper concerns the dynamic behaviour of the pantograph-catenary system for these types of catenary sections. In order to do so, a computational methodology able to handle the dynamic analysis of the pantograph-catenary interaction over overlap sections is presented. Subsequently it is demonstrated in a case study representing single and multiple pantograph operations in high-speed trains between a realistic catenary and pantograph models. The application of the procedures allows the identification of important quantities of the pantograph-catenary dynamic response necessary to evaluate its behaviour when passing through an overlap section.