An application of active control to the collector of an high-speed pantograph: Simulation and laboratory tests

The current collection for the traction motor of trains is obtained by means of a sliding contact between the overhead line (OHL) and the collector strips mounted on the pantograph head. As the train speed increases, the variation of contact force exchanged between the pantograph and the OHL, dependent on their dynamic interaction, becomes greater. This condition causes excessive mechanical wear and contact wire uplift (for high values of contact forces), and leads to high percentage of loss of contact, arcing and electrically related wear if too low values of contact forces occur. The topic of actively controlled pantograph is gaining more interest as a tool to increase the performance of current collection. This paper describes authors research activities on this topic.