Influence of typical faults over the dynamic behavior of pantograph-catenary contact force in electric rail transport

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering 2017-05, Vol.200 (1), p.12056
• Main Authors: Rusu-Anghel, S, Ene, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Contact force; Electric contacts; Fault location; Faults; Inspection; Maintenance; Pantographs; Signatures; Trolleys
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/200/1/012056

The quality of electric energy capture and also the equipment operational safety depend essentially of the technical state of the contact line (CL). The present method for determining the technical state of CL based on advance programming is no longer efficient, due to the faults which can occur into the not programmed areas. Therefore, they cannot be remediated. It is expected another management method for the repairing and maintenance of CL based on its real state which must be very well known. In this paper a new method for determining the faults in CL is described. It is based on the analysis of the variation of pantograph-CL contact force in dynamical regime. Using mathematical modelling and also experimental tests, it was established that each type of fault is able to generate 'signatures' into the contact force diagram. The identification of these signatures can be accomplished by an informatics system which will provide the fault location, its type and also in the future, the probable evolution of the CL technical state. The measuring of the contact force is realized in optical manner using a railway inspection trolley which has appropriate equipment. The analysis of the desired parameters can be accomplished in real time by a data acquisition system, based on dedicated software.