Research on driving force and dynamic characteristics of pantograph–catenary arc

Pantograph–catenary (PC) system is the key current collection equipment for electrified rail vehicles. The PC arc ages the contact line and pantograph abnormally, which is a limiting factor for rail transit to increase the speed of operation. To reduce the harm caused by the PC arc, in this article, a new PC arc chain model was established, which considered the arc current element mass and the acceleration process, updating the control equations. Meanwhile, a PC arc experimental platform was built in order to verify this model. It is demonstrated that the simulation results obtained by this work fit the arc and are suitable to describe the arc in the field. Experiments have found that the evolution of PC arc can be divided into three distinct processes: arc initial process, rapid stretching process and violent oscillation process. Combined with the model, the driving force and dynamic characteristics of the PC arc root and column in each process have been studied. The electromagnetic force dominates the arc evolution in the first two processes, and then the wind load dominates the last process. Besides, thermal buoyancy dominates the arc root jumping behavior. The driving mechanism for the movement of arc has been revealed. The arc root first suppresses the arc column, and then the arc column pulls the arc root. It is helpful for controlling PC arcs in the field.