Wave propagation analysis of the overhead conductor rail system based on numerical simulation and full-scale experiment

The overhead conductor rail system (OCR) is an important current-transmitting structure for electric trains in tunnels. As the train speed increases, the wave propagation behaviour in the OCR plays an ever-increasingly important role in affecting the current collection quality. This paper is the first endeavour to numerically and experimentally explore wave behaviours in the OCR. With the help of a finite element model, the spatial propagation and frequency-domain characteristics of the wave propagation are investigated. Based on the time-space distribution of waves, the wave speed of the OCR is identified. Subsequently, a full-scale experimental test is conducted to identify a real-life OCR's wave speed for the first time. The relative error between the simulated and experimental speed is only 5.50 %, highlighting the effectiveness of the presented model. Then, the influence of wave propagation on the interaction performance of pantograph-OCR is analysed. A significant reduction of the interaction performance is observed when the train speed approaches the wave speed. Through sensitivity analysis, the bending stiffness, the linear density, and the span length are identified as sensitive parameters affecting the wave speed.