Prediction of dynamic characteristics of a pantograph-catenary system using the displacement compatibility

Using the equation of displacement compatibility, a novel method for describing the contact between pantograph and catenary is proposed in this paper. Then an interaction catenary-pantograph system capable of describing vertical vibration is established. Taking into account the frictional characteristic between pantograph and catenary, the Coulomb model is applied. Based on the continuum mechanics, the partial differential equations of the coupling system are set up. For facilitating numerical simulation, the dynamic equations are further discretized by the Galerkin method, in which the modes of the complicated system are obtained by the finite element method. Therefore, the ordinary differential equations of the coupling system are numerically solved and the corresponding dynamic behaviors at different running speeds are analyzed in terms of waveform. Moreover, the effects of the frictional characteristic on the contact force between pantograph and catenary are discussed in detail. By comparing the results with European standard EN50318, the novel contact method is proved to be valid and accurate.