Influence of Pantograph Suspension Characteristics on the Contact Quality with the Catenary for High Speed Trains

In general the electrical energy is provided to the trainsets by the pantograph-catenary contact. The study of this system contributes to decrease the number of incidents and the maintenance and interoperability costs. Here a finite element method and a multibody dynamics approach are used to handle the catenary and the pantograph dynamics, implemented in a validated computational tool. The objective is to understand how pantograph parameters influence contact force characteristics and catenary uplift. The results provide indications on how the pantographs can be modified, in a design environment, or tuned to improve the performance of the overhead contact system.