An improved full Fourier series method approaching the stitched catenary in high-speed rail way

The railway catenary is the typical tensioned beam structure arranged along the railway lines, supplying power to the moving high-speed trains. The accurate static form-finding and dynamic behaviour prediction of the structure are the fundamental problems. An improved full Fourier series (IFFS) method is proposed to describe the mechanical behaviour of the stitched catenary. Different from the conventional Fourier series method, both the sin and cos series are adopted, and the proportional and constant terms are added. The initialization process and the static characteristics of the stitched catenary are given and compared to the finite element method (FEM). The effects of the expanding orders are discussed, considering the calculation efficiency and accuracy. The differences caused by the stitch wire are analysed, consisting of the static state and the dynamic performance in pantograph-catenary interaction, supporting the structural design of the high-speed railway catenary.