Objective As the core for power supply system of urban rail transit vehicles, the pantograph-catenary system undertakes the important functions of transmitting electrical energy to vehicles through catenary and ensuring their normal operation. Its stable operating state has a decisive impact on train operation safety and efficiency. During the dynamic interaction of the pantograph-catenary system, arcing phenomena occur frequently, which not only directly reduced current collection quality, but also induced electromagnetic interference and transient overvoltage problems in the vehicle system. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth investigation of the electrical characteristics of pantograph-catenary arcs and their effects.

Method Research is carried out focusing on the off-line process of the metro vehicle pantograph-catenary system, mainly analyzing the complete dynamic behavior of the pantograph and catenary from contact to separation and then to re-contact. On this basis, a pantograph-catenary arc reignition model capable of reflecting multiple arc reignition characteristics is established, providing a detailed description of the dynamic evolution of the arcing process. By developing a whole-vehicle system simulation model, the variation law of transient overvoltage induced by pantograph-catenary arcs under DC (direct current) traction power supply conditions are investigated. The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed pantograph-catenary arc reignition model are verified through a comparison between simulated and measured arc voltage waveforms.

Result & Conclusion  The simulation results of the established pantograph-catenary arc reignition model show good agreement with measured data, effectively simulating the network voltage variation characteristics during the actual pantograph-catenary off-line process, and revealing the voltage drop and oscillation phenomena caused by arcing. The model is beneficial for further investigation of the impact of pantograph-catenary transient overvoltage on vehicle high-voltage equipment.