Thermal analysis and temperature characteristics of a braking resistor for high-speed trains for changes in the braking current

Electric brake systems are used in high-speed trains to brake trains by converting the kinetic energy of a railway vehicle to electric energy. The electric brake system consists of a regenerative braking system and a dynamic braking system. When the electric energy generated during the dynamic braking process is changed to heat through the braking resistor, the braking resistor can overheat; thus, failures can occur to the motor block. In this paper, a braking resistor for a high-speed train was used to perform thermal analyses and tests, and the results were analyzed. The analyzed data were used to estimate the dependence of the brake currents and the temperature rises on speed changes up to 300 km/h, at which a test could not be performed.