Electrical Characteristics Of Electric Arc And Their Applications In High Speed Railway Construction

With the rapid development of high-speed electric railway, the current collection quality between pantograph and overhead contact line system has attracted more and more attention to the construction and maintenance department of electric railway. The higher the running speed of locomotive or multiple units, the more unstable the dynamic interaction between pantograph and overhead contact line system and the more severe the contact loss. The electric arc due to contact loss will lead to both electrical and mechanical damage to contact wire and pantograph, and sometimes it may burn-out contact wire thus leads to the failure of the system and impairs the quality of power supply. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the characteristics of electric arc between pantograph and overhead contact line system.On the basis of the specialty of electric arc, through analyzing the electrical, mechanical and energy characteristics of it, the paper presents a mimic measuring system of electric arc between pantograph and overhead contact line system by the advantages of simulation, calculation and experiment.Catenaries for electric railway are exposed to complex and volatile environment, and the factors leading to electric arc between them are very complex, so it is impossible to eliminate it. Due to the difficulties in building a rigid mathematical model of electric arc, the paper gives a brief introduction to the factors resulting in electric arc and emphasizes on the measures to alleviate the adverse effects of electric arc. Static and dynamic test standards of overhead contact line system are suggested. Various ways of reducing the occurrence of electric arc are analyzed and considered in building overhead contact line system.Special construction technology for electric railway is presented for the typical structure, such as section insulators, crossover and string wires. Measures to reduce the occurrence of electric arc were employed in the new electric railway line from Hefei to Bengbu and good results were achieved.