Contact point lateral speed effects on contact strip wear in pantograph – catenary interaction for railway operations under 15 kV 16.67 Hz AC systems

The design of a railway catenary is subject to multiple decisions regarding the geometry of the system. In particular, the horizontal geometry of the contact wire determines the evolution of the wear of the contact wire and contact strip over time. The horizontal geometry is obtained through the stagger, a lateral displacement of the contact wire at the supports. The value of the stagger, length of the span, curvature of the track, and train speed within the span determine the speed at which the contact point between the wire and the pantograph moves over the contact strip from side to side. A wider stagger corresponds to a larger area of the wear distribution over the contact strip. However, the speed at which the contact point moves over the strip is also important to the wear due to the sliding contact. Thus, the catenary design affects the contact strip wear through the lateral speed of the contact point. In this paper, a study of the lateral speed effects on contact strip wear is presented. The findings include a model of the lateral speed effect on the wear and a recommendation for a lower limit value for the lateral speed of 330 mm/s.