Measures for Fatigue Damage Reduction in Electrical OCL Connections

Electrical connections between the contact wire and the messenger wire are always subject to fatigue damage due to vibration caused by the passage of pantographs. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the fatigue mechanisms affecting electrical connections to propose measures to mitigate damage. In this paper, the authors focus on the resonance of the electrical connection with catenary system and relative vibration displacement between the contact wire and the messenger wire considering them as major fatigue factors. As a result of OCL-pantograph simulation, the authors clarified the conditions under which fatigue damage of the electrical connection can occur. In addition, the authors proposed a new electrical connection which has a fatigue life exceeding 10 million vibration cycles.