Study of the Dynamic Performance of Pantograph at Speeds Close to the Critical Speed on Soft Catenary System

Pantograph-catenary dynamics determines operational speed, system reliability, and maintenance cost. The pantograph must negotiate the propagating waves excited by the pantograph itself. The dynamic performance is getting worse when the train is approaching the speed of wave propagation, which is called the critical speed. Normally, the permissible operational speed is below 70% of the critical speed. Very few studies or tests have studied the dynamic performance close to the critical speed. Because the Swedish catenaries were soft and haver relatively low critical speed, in the previous Grona Taget project, a series of tests were performed close to the critical speed of the tested catenary systems. Based on the measurement data and test feedback, this work studies the dynamic performance of the soft catenary system. The study gives insight into the critical speed range, which can be beneficial for the development of the pantograph-catenary system for the very high-speed operation.