Dynamics and Control of a High Speed Train Pantograph System

High speed trains permit faster travelling between long distance destinations, making it an easy and comfortable way of travelling. The pantograph is the element of the train that collects electrical current from the cable system above (the catenary), to the train motors. The contact force variation can cause contact losses, electric arc formations and sparking. This deteriorates the quality of current collection and increases the electrical related wear, therefor becoming a limiting factor for the maximum train speed. The increase of the static contact force is not an efficient way to deal with the problem, because it increases mechanical abrasive wear and produces an excessive uplift of the contact wire. Maintaining the contact force in an admissible region is crucial for high speed trains. In this work a model in SimMechanics is created for the pantograph and the catenary. The complexity of the contact interface between the pantograph and the catenary is studied. The control strategy is based on a PID controller, and robust H2 and H∞ controllers. Both approaches are studied and compared. A virtual reality pantograph is created for better perception of the motion of the pantograph. The main targeted conclusion is to confirm that the usage of robust control is superior and more flexible then classical PID control strategies making the current collection constant, and therefore producing low wear of the registration strip. Furthermore, we verify that model approximations are very influent on contact force dynamics.