PANTOGRAPH-CATENARY DYNAMICS SIMULATION FOR HIGH-SPEED TRAINS

The aim of the present paper is to simulate the pantograph-catenary dynamics for high-speed trains for the purpose of identifying the influence of various system parameters and simulation conditions on the pantograph vertical motion and on the contact force. The catenary model assumes a periodic timevariant stiffness along the span and the pantograph is modeled by a three degrees of freedom system. Simulation is made by numerically integrating the differential equations of motion using the MATLAB ODE solver. The results of the simulation reveal that the vehicle speed and the catenary stiffness - by its average value or by its degree of variation along the span - have the highest influence on the pantograph-catenary dynamic interaction.