DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF THE SOURCES OF VARIATION INSIDE THE PANTOGRAPH – CATENARY SYSTEM

To power electrically tractioned railway vehicles, a connection between the vehicle and the source of energy is needed. This is achieved with the combined action of a train device called pantograph catenary, a powered line positioned along the railway. Guaranteeing a constant contact force between the two parts is essential to allow continuous energy feed to the vehicle. The geometry of the catenary along the line generates important force fluctuation. A rigid and periodical geometry is considered for the study of these fluctuations under different pantograph velocities and contact stiffness rigidities. Its periodical nature is studied together with its behaviour in the frequency domain. Due to these fluctuations, mechanical waves are generated inside the catenary system, on the messenger and contact wires. Wave dispersion is studied modelling the contact wire as an Euler-Bernoulli beam and the results are compared to an analytical model. In the catenary system, the messenger and contact wires are connected by so called droppers. These droppers couple the dynamic behaviour of both wires. Transmission and reflection of mechanical waves are studied by using the proposed analytical models.