Wind tunnel test on aeroelastic model of catenary system for high speed railway

An aeroelastic model with five posts and four spans was constructed according to the design requirements for catenary system and similarity theory. The wind tunnel tests were carried through to study the wind vibration characteristics of the catenary system for high speed railway. The acceleration, displacement of the cantilever structure and the 3D dynamic displacement of the contact wire were tested by accelerometer, laser displacement meter and 3D dynamic laser displacement meter respectively. The wind vibration response of cantilever structure and contact wire at different positions was studied under uniform flow (the test wind speed from 3 to 14 m·s-1) and turbulent flow with 20% turbulent intensity (the wind speed from 2 to 8 m·s-1) at the wind attack angles of 90° and 60°. The results show that, under the same wind speed, the displacement response of contact wire under turbulent flow is greater than that under uniform flow. The influence of wind attack angles on the hanging point of catenary and contact wire is different. By comparison, the wind attack angle of 60° is more unfavorable to hanging point and the wind attack angle of 90° is more unfavorable to contact wire. The windage yaw displacements at the three points on the midspan of contact wire in the same dropper section are similar. ©, 2015, Chinese Academy of Railway Sciences. All right reserved.