Sung Pil Jung

Senior Researcher
System Reliability Research Center,
Korea Automotive Technology Institute,
74 Yongjeong-ri, Pungse-myeon,
Dongnam-gu, Cheonan-si,
Chungnam 330912, South Korea
e-mail: spjung@katech.re.kr
Young Guk Kim
Chief Researcher
High-Speed Rail Systems Research Center,
Korea Railway Research Institute,
176, Cheoldo Bangmulgwan-ro,
Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi, 437757, South Korea
e-mail: ygkim@krri.re.kr
Jin Sung Paik
Senior Researcher
High-Speed Division,
Korea Railway Research Institute,
176, Cheoldo Bangmulgwan-ro,
Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi, 437757, South Korea
e-mail: jspaik@krri.re.kr
Tae Won Park1
Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Ajou University,
San 5, Woncheon-Dong, Yeongtong-Gu,
Suwon-City, 443749, South Korea
e-mail: park@ajou.ac.kr
Estimation of Dynamic Contact
Force Between a Pantograph
and Catenary Using the
Finite Element Method
This paper presents a model of the catenary and pantograph and an analysis of their
dynamic interaction, using the finite element method. An analytical procedure to calcu-
late the length of droppers is introduced. The calculated dropper length is applied to the
catenary model and the static deformation due to gravity is simulated. The presag result
of the contact wire is validated by comparison with the design specification. The wave
propagation speed of the catenary model is acquired by applying the impact force to the
contact wire. The result, regarding the wave propagation speed, agrees well with the
reference speed as defined by the UIC code. On the contrary, the pantograph model is
unified with the finite element catenary model, and the dynamic interaction of the
catenary-pantograph is simulated. An optimization technique to find the material
properties of the pantograph model is proposed. Based on the following performance test
data, the optimum values of the material properties are found by using the response
surface analysis method. The reliability of the pantograph-catenary model is verified by
comparing the contact force results obtained from the simulation and test. When the
pantograph drives at 305 km/h, 370 km/h, and 430 km/h, the contact force variation and
the possibility of loss of contact are discussed. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4006733]
Keywords: catenary, pantograph, finite element method, dropper length, dynamic
interaction, optimization

1 Introduction Presag is the initial deflection of the contact wire due to gravity,
and significantly affects the contact force variation. In addition,
Most railway trains employ electric traction. Electric power is
the movement of the pantograph induces flexural motion of the
transferred from an overhead catenary to the train via a panto-
catenary, and this flexural wave propagation also affects contact
graph that is mounted on its roof. Mechanically, the catenary and
force variation [7]. The displacement of the contact wire reaches
pantograph interact with each other through the contact force act-
its maximum when the driving speed of the pantograph equals the
ing on a collector strip on the head of the pantograph [1]. A panto-
wave propagation speed of the catenary. Therefore, the latter must
graph moving at high speed causes the vibration of the catenary
be carefully considered when the catenary model is simulated.
which, in turn, affects the contact force. As the trains speed
Ambrosio [8] and Rauter [9] performed a co-simulation of finite
increases, so does the variation in contact force, and contact may
element and rigid multibody dynamic codes. A linear finite ele-
even be lost [2]. The standard EN 50,119:2001 [3], which is the
ment code was used to analyze the behavior of the catenary, while
international standard in the railway industry, therefore requires a
a multibody code was used to describe the dynamics of the panto-
numerical analysis of the contact force variation when a new cate-
graph. A contact force model was developed for the interaction
nary system is designed.
between the catenary and the pantograph. This approach produces
Several studies have been devoted to estimating the contact
good simulation results, which follow the experimental data suc-
force variation between the catenary and pantograph, and most
cessfully. However, no validation was done for the presag or
recent studies are based on the finite element method (FEM). Seo
wave propagation speed of the catenary.
[4,5] created a catenary model using the finite element absolute
Cho [10] created a catenary-pantograph model using the FEM,
nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) [6]. The ANCF beam ele-
and suggested a new formulation for a geometrically nonlinear
ments were used to model the catenary, and a rigid multibody
dropper. Through a few experiments, Cho validated the reliabil-
pantograph model was created. A sliding joint element was devel-
ity of the dropper model and showed that the wave propagation
oped to connect the pantograph to the catenary. Seo validated the
speed of the contact wire follows the experimental result well.
reliability of the model by comparing the simulation result with
Cho proved that the amplitude of the contact force variation
test data. However, the stagger, which is the enforced displace-
changes according to the trains speed, and an increase in the
ment of the contact wire to reduce the wear of the collector strip,
uplift force can reduce the amplitude of the contact force varia-
was not described in the model. Also, the presag and wave propa-
tion. The presag of his catenary model, however, was not
gation speed of the catenary were not verified.
validated.
Recently, custom analysis programs [11,12] for the catenary-
1
Corresponding author. pantograph have been developed. Simulation results have been
Contributed by the Design Engineering Division of ASME for publication in the
JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND NONLINEAR DYNAMICS. Manuscript received October
shown to match well with test data. The limitation of those pro-
28, 2011; final manuscript received April 2, 2012; published online June 13, 2012. grams is that they cannot calculate the proper length of droppers,
Assoc. Editor: Jose L. Escalona. and is treated merely as an input condition, as in previous other

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C 2012 by ASME
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 Then, the pantograph model is connected to the catenary model.
The contact force variation is simulated by changing the driving
speed of the pantograph. The actual contact force variation had
been measured when KTX, which is a high-speed train operating
in South Korea, was run at a speed of 305 km/h. The statistical
values of the contact force results from the simulation model and
the actual train are compared. The usefulness and reliability of
the pantograph and catenary models presented in this paper are
discussed.

2 Analytical Procedure to Calculate the Length of

Droppers
Fig. 1 Presag of a simply supported cable 2.1 Presag of a Cable. Figure 1 shows the presag of a simply
supported cable due to gravity [21]. Here, S is the span length, D
is the maximum presag, T is the horizontal tension, Ti is the
studies. The length of the dropper is very important to design the tangential tension at point i of the cable, xi and yi are the horizon-
catenary system since the amount of presag is controlled by tal and vertical positions of point i, di is the presag of a point i,
changing the length of the droppers. Therefore, these programs and l/2 is the length of the cable from the lowest position of the
can estimate the contact force variation between the catenary and cable to point i. Assuming that the density of the cable (w) is uni-
pantograph, but cannot be used to design the catenary. formly distributed, the weight per unit length of the cable whose
Modeling a pantograph is another important issue. In the case length is l is calculated as wl and is concentrated at point i. The
of a high-speed train, the pantograph should be able to absorb air vertical position of point i can be written as [21]
resistance and maintain stable contact with the contact wire.
  
Because the air resistance and contact force variation disturb the T w S T
dynamic behavior of the pantograph, they significantly affect the yi cosh xi   (1)
w T 2 w
safety of both the train and railway facilities.
Wu [13] created a single degree of freedom (DOF) and two
DOF pantograph models consisting of springs, dampers, and From Eq. (1), one can see that the cable with a presag forms a
masses and then compared the steady-state responses and dynamic hyperbolic function. Using the power series expansion of the
characteristics of the two. Collina [14] also created a two DOF hyperbolic function, Eq. (1) can be changed, as in Eq. (2), by
model of the pantograph, and validated its reliability by compar- neglecting the higher order terms
ing the measured and computed frequency responses.  
Nowadays, a three DOF model of the pantograph is widely w S 2
yi xi  (2)
used in studies based on the finite element method [1517]. These 2T 2
studies, however, did not describe how to find the proper values of
the material properties of the springs, dampers, and masses. The Therefore, the presag at point i can be written as
pantograph is comprised of many components, and it is thus diffi-
cult to estimate the exact values of the material properties of the w
di D  yi xi S  xi (3)
three DOF model. In addition, a validation of the three DOF pan- 2T
tograph model was hardly performed.
In this study, a dynamic analysis model of the catenary and pan- 2.2 Loads Supported by Droppers. Figure 2 shows the load
tograph is created by using the SAMCEF code, which is a finite distribution over a cable supported by droppers. Here, p is the
element analysis program. An analytical procedure to calculate distance between the support and dropper 1, a1 and b1 are the
the length of droppers is introduced. Three-dimensional beam ele- distances from dropper 1 and dropper 2 to the lowest point of the
ments are used to model the messenger and contact wires, and the cable. In addition, a2 and b2 are the distances from dropper 2 and
dropper is replaced by a tension-only spring. The presag of the dropper 3 to the lowest point of the cable. Here, S1 and S2 are
contact wire due to gravity is obtained and validated by a compar- the distances between droppers. The vertical reaction forces at
ison with the design specification. To obtain the wave propagation dropper 1 (R1) and dropper 2 (R2) can be calculated as [21]
speed of the catenary model, the impact force is applied to the
contact wire, and the time differences among the peak displace-
ments of three points of the contact wire are measured. The wave
propagation speed of the catenary model is validated by a compar-
ison with the reference speed defined by the UIC code 799 OR
[18], which is the international standard in the railway industry.
As previously mentioned, the presag and wave propagation speed
are the most important factors for the design of the catenary sys-
tem; the modeling and validation processes presented in this study
can be an invaluable guide for those who are designing the cate-
nary system.
On the contrary, this study proposes a method to find the mate-
rial properties of a three-DOF model of a pantograph. The values
for springs, dampers, and masses are obtained through an optimi-
zation technique. Based on data from the following performance
test, the frequency response of an actual pantograph is calculated,
and the optimum values for the springs, dampers, and masses of
the pantograph model are estimated by using the response surface
method [19,20]. By comparing the following performance simula-
tion and test results, the dynamic characteristics of the three-DOF
pantograph model are validated. Fig. 2 Load distribution over a cable supported by droppers

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 (i) i 1 (the first dropper)
 
x2  x1 Tc d2  d1
F 1 w c x1 wd (8)
2 wc x2  x1

(ii) 1< i < n

 
xi1  xi1 Tc di  di1 Tc di1  di
Fi wc  wd
2 wc xi  xi1 wc xi1  xi
(9)

(iii) i n (the latest dropper)

 
xn  xn1 Tc dn  dn1
Fn wc S  xn  wd
2 wc xn  xn1
(10)

In the Eq. (10), wd is the weight of a dropper.

Fig. 3 Geometry of a single span of a catenary with n droppers
2.3.3 Vertical Reaction Forces of a Messenger Wire at
Supports.
 
S1 Th1 X
R1 wp a1 w p S Xn
2 wS1 MB RA S wm S Fi S  xi 0 (11)
(4) 2 i1
 
S1 Th1 S2 Th2
R2 wb1 a2 w  Using Eq. (11), the vertical reaction force of the messenger
2 wS1 2 wS2
wire at support A (RA) is
2.3 Length of the Droppers of a Catenary
wm S X n
Fi S  xi
2.3.1 Presag of a Contact Wire. Figure 3 shows the geometry RA (12)
2 i1
S
of a single span of a catenary with n droppers. Here, RA and RB
are vertical forces acting on the messenger wire at supports A and
B, and the horizontal force of Tm is acting on both ends of the The vertical force equilibrium in Fig. 4 is
messenger wire. Because the heights of supports A and B are
X X
n
equal, the horizontal forces are also the same. Here, ci is the pre- Fy RA RB  wm S  Fi 0 (13)
sag of the messenger wire, Tc is the tension acting on the contact i1
wire, F1, F2,, and Fn are the vertical forces acting on the contact
wire. From Eq. (3), the presag at point i of the contact wire sup- Using Eq. (13), the vertical reaction force of a messenger wire
ported by the ith dropper (di) can be derived as at support B (RB) can be calculated as
wc
di xi  x1 S1  xi x1 (5) X
n
2T RB wm S Fi  RA (14)
i1
where wc is the weight per unit length of the contact wire. The
maximum presag of a contact wire (dc) occurs at the central point 2.3.4 The Presag of a Messenger Wire. Figure 5 shows the
of the contact wire (xi x1 S1/2) and is load distribution over the messenger wire, according to droppers.
Here, and are the index of droppers, and wm is the weight per
wc S 1 2 unit length of the messenger wire. In Fig. 5(a), the moment equi-
dc (6)
8T librium at the location of the first dropper () is

In Eq. (6), the maximum presag is unique for a given span, weight x1
Tm c1  RA x1 wm x1 0 (15)
per unit length, and tension. The maximum presag, however, is vari- 2
able since the vertical forces F1,F2,, and Fn are changed according
to the length of droppers. During construction of the catenary, the
presag of the contact wire is controlled by adjusting the length of
droppers, while the maximum presag of the contact wire is given as
a design specification. Using Eq. (6), Eq. (5) can be re-written as Eq.
(7), which is a function of the maximum presag dc. Equation (7) is
generally used when designing the catenary [21]

4dc
di xi  x1 S1  xi x1 (7)
S1 2

2.3.2 Loads Supported by Droppers. From Eq. (4), the load

supported by each dropper shown in Fig. 3 can be calculated as
follows Fig. 4 Load distribution over a messenger wire

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 Fig. 5 Load distribution over the messenger wire according to droppers

Fig. 6 Geometry of a catenary

Additionally, the presag of the messenger wire at (c1) is where E is the encumbrance defined in Fig. 3. Thus, by substituting
  Eqs. (7) and (19) into Eq. (20), the length of a dropper can be
1 wm x1 2 calculated as
c1 RA x1  (16)
Tm 2 !
1 X
i1
w m xi 2
li E  R A xi  Fk xi  xk 
In Fig. 5(b), the moment equilibrium at the location of the second Tm k1
2
dropper () is (21)
4dc
2 xi  x1 S1  xi x1 0
x2 S1
Tm c2  RA x2 F1 x2  x1 wm x2 0 (17)
2
3 Verification of the Catenary Model
Additionally, the presag of the messenger wire at (c2) is
Figure 6 shows the geometrical information of a catenary to
  calculate the length of droppers. The span length is 50 m, eight
1 wm x2 2
c2 RA x2  F1 x2  x1  (18) droppers are attached between the messenger and contact wires,
Tm 2 and the distance between droppers is shown. Table 1 shows the

Therefore, the presag of the messenger wire at any location of

droppers (ci) can be defined as Table 1 Properties of the catenary
!
1 X
i1
w m xi 2 Category Value
ci R A xi  Fk xi  xk  (19)
Tm k1
2 Tension of the messenger wire (Tm) 14,000 (N)
Weight per unit length of the messenger wire (wm) 0.605 (kgf/m)
In a single type of catenary, the length of a dropper (li) is defined Tension of the contact wire (Tc) 20,000 (N)
Weight per unit length of the messenger wire (wc) 1.334 (kgf/m)
as Weight of a dropper (wd) 1.0595 (N)
Max. presag of the contact wire (dc) Span/2000 (m)
li E  ci di (20)

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 Fig. 7 Finite element model of a catenary

Table 2 Analysis results regarding of the presag of a catenary

Component element Sectional area (mm2) Elastic modulus (GPa) Poissons ratio Mass density (kg/m) Damping

Messenger wire 3D beam 65.49 110 0.1 0.605 0.05

Contact wire 3D beam 150 180 0.1 1.334 0.01

properties of the catenary. The tension and density of the contact
and messenger wires are shown and the weight of a dropper is
assumed to be 1.0595 N. Here, dc is the maximum presag set to
the design specification.
3.1 Finite Element Model of a Catenary. Figure 7 shows a
finite element model of a single span of a catenary. Three dimen-
sional beam elements are used to model the messenger and con-
tact wires, and the length of each beam element is 0.05 m. Thus, a
single span of the catenary is composed of 2000 beam elements.
Table 2 shows the sectional area and material properties of the
beam element. Each dropper is modeled by using a tension-only
spring whose stiffness is 50 kN/m. The tension is activated when
the length of the spring element reaches the calculated dropper
length. Ground spring elements, which are vertical springs
between the ground and object, are used to constrain the messen-
ger and contact wires, and their stiffness is obtained as previously
described in Ref. [15]. The ground spring element which con-
strains the contact wire represents the registration arm of the
actual catenary system. Initial tensions of 14 kN and 20 kN are
applied to both ends of the messenger and contact wires, as shown
in Fig. 7. Static deformation of the contact wire is obtained when
a gravitational acceleration of 9.81 m/s2 is applied to the catenary.
The length of a dropper (li) was calculated using Eq. (21) and
applied to the catenary model. Table 3 shows the calculated length
of each dropper, and one can see that all values are symmetric
with respect to the 4th and 5th droppers.
3.2 Validation of the Presag of a Catenary. Figure 8 shows
the static analysis results of the catenary model. In Fig. 8, the
maximum presag of the contact wire is 0.0247 m, and has an
error of 1.2% compared with the design specification of 0.025
(Span/2000 shown in Table 1). This verifies the presag of the
finite element model of a catenary.
3.3 Validation of the Wave Propagation Speed of a
Catenary. The wave propagation and reflection of a catenary
have significant effects on the dynamic interaction between the
catenary and pantograph. Since resonance of the contact force
occurs when the driving speed of the train is equal to the wave
propagation speed of the catenary, design specifications of the cat-
enary such as the tension, presag, and wave propagation speed
decide the maximum driving speed of a train. Thus, an exact
estimation of the wave propagation speed of the catenary is very
important. However, calculation of the wave propagation speed of
the catenary is difficult since the catenary consists of many com-
ponents. In this study, a simplified equation, defined by the UIC
standard, which is the international standard maintained by the
international union of railway, is used as the reference wave prop-
agation speed of the catenary. The reference wave propagation
speed is compared with the wave propagation speed of the simula-
tion model, and then the reliability of the simulation model is vali-
dated. In UIC 799 OR, the wave propagation speed is defined as
s
Tm Tc
C (22)
qm qc
where T and q are the tension and mass density, and the subscripts
m and c represent the messenger and contact wires, respec-
tively. In the case of the catenary shown in Fig. 6, the reference
Table 3 Calculated results for the dropper length
Dropper 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
x (m) 4.5 11.25 18.0 22.75 27.25 32.0 38.75 45.5
li (m) 1.2501 1.1249 1.049 1.0251 1.0251 1.049 1.1249 1.2501

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 Fig. 8 Results of the finite element analysis regarding the presag of a catenary

wave propagation speed is calculated as C ((14,000 20,000)/

(0.605 1.334))1/2 476.7 km/h.
In order to obtain the wave propagation speed of the catenary
model, ten spans of the catenary are created, as shown in Fig. 9.
An impact force (Fimpact) of 10 kN is applied at the central point
of the contact wire, and then the displacements of P1, P2, and P3,
are acquired. Figure 10 shows the displacement variations of the
three points due to the impact force. The displacement of P1
reaches its first peak value at t1 0.9763 s. Additionally, P1 and
P2 reach their first peak at t2 1.3643 s and t3 1.7163 s, respec-
tively. Thus, the propagation speed of the simulation model can
be calculated as follows

P2  P1 325  275
V1  3:6 486:5 km=h
t2  t1 1:3643  0:9763
Fig. 10 Displacement variation of P1, P2, and P3 due to the
impact force
P3  P2 375  325
V2  3:6 486:5 km=h
t3  t2 1:7163  1:3643
(23)

where V1 and V2 are the propagation speeds between P1 and P2,

and P2 and P3, respectively. As shown in Eq. (23), V1 and V2 have
the same value of 486.5 km/h, which is very close to the reference
wave propagation speed of 476.7 km/h with an error of just 2.1%.
Therefore, the wave propagation speed of the catenary model is
validated.

Fig. 9 Finite element model of ten spans of the catenary to

obtain the wave propagation speed Fig. 11 Configuration of the following performance test

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 Fig. 13 Comparison of the receptance results of the simulation
and experiment after optimization

range of excitation of 20 Hz is enough to verify the dynamic char-

acteristics of the vertical behavior of the pantograph.
Receptance can be used to estimate the dynamic response of a
low frequency system, such as a pantograph. Using the auto power
spectral density (SFF) of the force and the cross power spectral
density (SFY) of the displacement, the receptance of the panto-
graph can be calculated as [23]

SFY
Rx (24)
SFF

where R is the receptance, and x is the frequency. The receptance

plot of the actual pantograph can be seen in Fig. 13.There are two
peak frequencies: the first is at 6.5 Hz and the second is at 10.0
Hz, as shown in Table 6.

Fig. 12 Three DOF model of a pantograph

4.2 Receptance of the Three DOF Model of a
Pantograph. Figure 12 shows the three-DOF model of a panto-
4 Verification of the Pantograph Model graph considered in this study. Here, m is the mass, k is the
4.1 Following Performance Test of a Pantograph. The os-
cillation of the catenary, the change of the height of supports, and Table 4 Design variables of the three-DOF model of the
the disturbance of a train due to external loads induce a vertical pantograph
vibration of the pantograph. This vibration increases the contact
force variation and loss of contact may be incurred if the contact Level
force becomes negative. The vertical vibration characteristic of
Variable 1 0 1
the pantograph can be estimated through the following perform-
ance test [22]. Figure 11 shows the configuration of the following Upper m1 (kg) 6 8.5 11
performance test. The hydraulic actuator gives the vertical dis- Middle m2 (kg) 9 10.5 12
placement excitation to the pan head of the pantograph. The load k2 (N/m) 12,200 13,600 15,000
cell (1), located between the actuator and the pan head measures Low m3 (kg) 10 14.0 18
the input force, and the output force is obtained by using the load
cell (2), which is installed in the pan head. The output force is
assumed to be the contact force, and the contact force variation is
Table 5 Optimization results
measured by changing the frequency and amplitude of the excita-
tion. The following performance of the pantograph can be Variable Original model Optimum model
assessed by the signal of the contact force. If the contact force is
negative, the pantograph is detached from the actuator, and subse- m1 (kg) 8.5 6
quently leads to poor following performance. The average contact m2 (kg) 10.5 12
force has to be maintained at a certain level to provide stable cur- k2 (N/m) 13,600 13,600
rent energy and was set to 175 N in this study. m3 (kg) 14.0 10
The following performance test was carried out by changing Y (Hz) 1.314 0.0535 (95.93% ;)
the frequency of the excitation from 0.5 Hz to 20 Hz. The ampli-
tude of excitation was also changed to a certain value to make the
average contact force 175 N. Assuming the pantograph is driving
Table 6 The 1st and 2nd resonance frequencies of receptance
at a speed of 300 km/h under a catenary whose span length is 50 m
with 8 droppers, the pantograph passes a single span of the cate- Resonance Test (Hz) Original model (Hz) Optimum model (Hz)
nary in 0.6 s. The theoretical frequency of the vertical force that is
applied to the pantograph is 10/0.6 16.67 Hz. The numerator ten 1st 6.5 5.5 6.5
refers to the eight droppers and two registration arms that are used 2nd 10.0 9.7 9.95
to apply the stagger to the contact wire. Therefore, the frequency

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 m1 s2 c1 s k1 Y1 s  c1 s k1 Y2 s Fc s
 c1 s k1 Y1 s fm2 s2 c1 c2 s k1 k2 gY2 s
 c2 s  k2 Y3 s 0  c2 s k2 Y2
fm3 s2 c2 c3 s k2 k3 gY3 s Fs s
(26)

Since the static life force Fs is constant and does not affect the
vibration characteristic of the pantograph, Fs can be neglected.
Thus, the receptance of the three-DOF pantograph model can be
calculated as

Y1 s CE  D2
R1 s 
Fc s ACE  AD2  EB2
where A m1 s2 c1 s k1
Fig. 14 Three DOF model for the following performance B c1 s k1
simulation (27)
C m2 s2 c1 c2 s k1 k2
stiffness of a spring, c is damping, Fc is the contact force, Fs is the D c2 s k2
static lift force, and y is the generalized coordinate. E m3 s2 c2 c3 s k2 k3
According to Newtons 2nd law, the equations of motions of
the three rigid bodies are derived as
By substituting jx instead of s in Eq. (27), the receptance can
m1 y1 c1 y_1  y_2 k1 y1  y2 Fc 0 be obtained as a function of the frequency.

4.3 Estimation of the Material Properties of the Three-

m2 y2  c1 y_1 c1 c2 y_2  c2 y_3  k1 y1 k1 k2 y2  k2 y3 0
m3 y3  c2 y_2 c2 c3 y_3  k2 y2 k2 k3 y3  Fs 0
Using the Laplace transformation, Eq. (25) can be changed to
DOF Model. In order to estimate the material properties of the
three-DOF model of the pantograph, an optimization has been car-
ried out by using the response surface method. The objective is to
(25) minimize the sum of the differences of two peak frequencies
of the following performance simulation and test. That is, the
objective function (Y) is defined as

Fig. 15 Comparisons of the following performance test and simulation results: (a) response at
0.5 Hz: 40 mm, (b) response at 6.5 Hz: 2 mm, (c) response at 9.5 Hz: 0.5 mm, and (d) response at
10 Hz: 0.9 mm

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 Fig. 16 Simulation model of the catenary-pantograph

Y abs f 1 simulation  f 1 test abs f 2 simulation  f 2 test  (28) minimize the objective function. This is assumed by the results of
the sensitivity analysis, however, the increase or decrease of
where abs is the absolute value, f 1 and f 2 are the first and second design variables may be changed during optimization.
frequencies, and the subscripts represent the simulation and test. The sequential quadratic program algorithm [25] was used to
Table 4 shows the design variables. There are nine design varia- find the optimum values of the design variables that minimize the
bles in the three DOF model shown in Fig. 12: (m1, m2, m3), (k1,
k2, k3) and (c1, c2, c3). Since damping has little effect on the fre-
quency, the damping elements c1, c2, and c3 are excluded from the
design variables for optimization. The values of the damping ele-
ments are set as c1 30 Ns/m, c2 0 Ns/m, and c3 64.9 Ns/m;
those values are defined in the design sheet offered by the panto-
graph manufacturer. In addition, k3, which is the stiffness of the
air compressor, is set to 0 N/m since the air compressor produces
a static life force and is fixed when the pantograph is driving.
Here, k1 represents a nonlinear spring that is installed inside the
pan head; as a result, it is not easy to find a representative value of
k1. In this study, k1 is set to 12,340 N/m, which is the largest of
the values offered by the pantograph manufacturer, since the high
frequency vibration is more important. Four design variables, as
shown in Table 4, were selected for optimization.
Twenty-five simulations were carried out, according to the cen-
tral composite design table [24]. The design table and simulation
results are shown in the Appendix. Using these results, the
response function that shows the relationship between the objec-
tive function and design variables is derived as

Y 1:4531 0:4222m1  0:1548m2  0:2327k2 0:3624m3

0:077m1 2 0:161m2 2  0:0615k2 2  0:1282m3 2
0:2006m1 m2  0:2077m2 k2  0:0505k2 m3  0:0287m1 k2
0:0549m2 m3 0:1503m1 m3
(29)

To verify the reliability of Eq. (29), an ANOVA table [24] is

created, as shown in the Appendix. In Table 11, the response func-
tion is reliable at a significance level of 1% since F0 > F(0.01).
This means that Eq. (29) can be used as an objective function for
optimization with a confidence interval of 99%.
In Eq. (29), the sensitivity of the design variables is in the order
of m1 > m3 > k2 > m2. If m1 and m3 increase, the value of the
objective function may increase. The objective function may Fig. 17 Configurations of the simulation model according to
decrease, however, if k2 and m2 increase. Therefore, m1 and the steps in the analysis: (a) STEP 1, (b) STEP 2, (c) STEP 3,
m3 would be decreased, and k2 and m2 would be increased to and (d) STEP 4

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 Fig. 18 Simulation and test results at V 5 305 km/h: (a) simulation result at V 5 305
km/h, (b) test data at V 5 305 km/h, and (c) vertical displacements of the contact wire at
the 4th, 5th, and 6th registration arms

objective function. Table 5 shows the optimization results, and the Each mass was connected by using a translational joint. The fre-
objective function is the minimum at m1 ( 1), m2 (1), k2 (0), and quency (x) and amplitude (A) of the excitation were varied and
m3( 1). After optimization, the sum of the differences regarding the contact force variation was measured.
the two peak frequencies of the following performance simulation The following performance simulation results are shown in
and test decreases by 95.93% (1.314 Hz ! 0.0535 Hz). Table 6 Fig. 15. Figure 15(a) shows the contact force variation under the
compares the 1st and 2nd resonance frequencies of the test, origi- excitation of 0.5 Hz40 mm. The value of 0.5 Hz means the pan-
nal, and optimum models. The first frequency has been changed tograph stays in a nearly static environment, and the simulation
more than the second frequency after optimization, and this can result follows the test data well in the aspect of magnitude and fre-
definitely be seen in Fig. 13. quency. However, the high frequency components are seen in the
test result, while these vibration modes are not seen in the simula-
4.4 Validation of the Optimization Results. After optimiza- tion result. This is because the simplified three-DOF pantograph
tion, the receptance of the simulation model successfully follows model was used. In Figs. 15(b)15(d), the simulation result cannot
the test data, as shown in Fig. 13. To validate the dynamic charac- represent a high frequency effect. As pointed out in Sec. 4.1, a
teristics of the optimized three DOF pantograph model, the fol- high frequency of the pantograph is not important since the theo-
lowing performance simulation model was created, as shown in retical frequency of the vertical force that is applied to the panto-
Fig. 14. The material properties of the optimum model shown in graph is lower than 20 Hz. Therefore, the high frequency effect on
Table 5 were used, and sinusoidal excitation was applied to the
model. The stiffness of the contact spring was set to 50 kN/m, as
Table 8 Statistical analysis results regarding the simulation
noted in the EN 50,318 standard [26]. To maintain the average and test data at V 5 305 km/h
contact force, a vertical static force of 175 N was applied to m3.
Category Simulation Test Error (%)
Table 7 Standard of EN 50119 to secure stable current collec-
tion performance ( V > 200 km/h) Average contact force (N) 144.5 145.8 0.9
Standard deviation (N) 38.5 39.5 2.6
Average contact Statistical max. of the c Statistical min. of the Statistical max. of the contact force (N) 259.9 264.3 1.7
force (Favg) ontact force contact force Statistical min. of the contact force (N) 59.1 27.3 53.8
(Fsmax Favg 3r) (Fsmin Favg  3r) Actual max. of the contact force (N) 248.1 262.3 5.7
Actual min. of the contact force (N) 87.0 31.5 63.8
<200 N <350 N Positive Max. uplift at the supports (mm) 63.1 / 62.5 / 59.9

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 Fig. 19 Contact force results from the simulation model at V 5 370 km/h and 430 km/h:
(a) contact force variation at V 5 370 km/h, and (b) contact force variation at V 5 430 km/h
the pantograph can be neglected. Figure 15(b) shows the follow-
ing performance results at the first resonance frequency of 6.5 Hz,
and Figs. 15(c) and 15(d) show the following performance results
around the second resonance frequency of 10 Hz. The simulation
results are well matched with the test data at both resonance fre-
quencies. Therefore, it can be concluded that the optimization to
find proper values of the material properties of the three DOF pan-
tograph model was successfully performed and verified the
dynamic characteristics of the simulation model.
5 Dynamic Interaction Between the Catenary and
Pantograph
In this section, the catenary model shown in Fig. 7 and the pan-
tograph model shown in Fig. 14 are combined and the dynamic
interaction is simulated. When the pantograph drives with a speed
of 305 km/h, the contact force variation of the simulation model is
validated by comparison with the test data. Then, the contact force
variation and the current collection performance are discussed
when the driving speed is 370 km/h and 430 km/h, respectively
(370 km/h and 430 km/h are the operating and maximum speeds
of HEMU-400X, which is the next generation high-speed train
under development in South Korea).
5.1 Catenary-Pantograph Model. Figure 16 shows the sim-
ulation model of the catenary-pantograph. The pantograph is the
same as the three DOF model shown in Fig. 14. Only the vertical
static force was changed from 175 N to 145 N. A thin contact
plate whose mass was 0.2 kg was created to apply the node to
face contact condition [27] between the pantograph and the con-
tact wire. Ten spans of the catenary, shown in Fig. 7, were cre-
ated. A stagger of 6200 mm was applied to the registration arm,
which is modeled by using the ground spring, whose stiffness is
213 N/m, of the contact wire. Simulation was performed as in the
following steps.
(i) t 010 s: Only gravity of 9.81 m/s2 is applied to the
catenary model; presag is described
(ii) t 1015 s: Stagger is applied to the registration arm
of the contact wire; also, the pantograph is lifted up
(iii) t 1520 s: No external forces are applied to the
model to secure dynamic equilibrium
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(iv) t 20 s: The pantograph starts to drive; the speed
reaches its maximum after 0.5 s
When the pantograph drives with speeds of 305 km/h, 370 km/
h, and 430 km/h, the contact force variation is acquired.
5.2 Simulation Results. Figure 17 shows the configuration
of the simulation model, according to the steps in the analysis.
STEP 1 : The presag of the catenary due to gravity is described.
The amount of presag has already been verified in
Sec. 3.2.
STEP 2 : The stagger is applied to the contact wire.
STEP 3 : The pantograph contacts with the contact wire. Vibra-
tion of the contact wire due to the contact force must
converge before STEP 4 commences.
STEP 4 : The pantograph is moved. The contact status between
the pantograph and the contact wire is of principal
interest.
Figure 18 shows the simulation and test results when the
driving speed (V) is 305 km/h. The contact force result shown in
Fig. 18(a) is periodically repeated. The contact force reaches its
maximum around the border between spans where the registration
arm is located. Otherwise, the contact force of the test data seems
not to be periodically repeated. This is because of the time differ-
ence between the location signal of the train and the measured
contact force data. The location of the train is obtained by the
GPS sensor and the contact force variation is acquired by the load
cell (2), as shown in Fig. 11, which is specially designed by the
Korea Railway Research Institute. The location and force data are
collected in different acquisition systems and then synchronized.
In this process, the time difference may have occurred. Also, the
aerodynamic force may affect the interaction of the catenary and
pantograph in the actual test. However, if the average and stand-
ard deviation of the contact force results from the simulation and
test are the same, it can be concluded that the simulation results
follow the test data with sufficient accuracy because the standard
of judgment to determine whether the loss of contact occurs or not
is the sign of the statistical minimum contact force [3]. The stand-
ard, EN 50,119 defines that the statistical minimum contact force
must be positive to avoid the loss of contact. Table 7 shows the
OCTOBER 2012, Vol. 7 / 041006-11
 Table 9 Statistical analysis results from the simulation at three-DOF pantograph model were found by using an optimiza-
V 5 370 km/h and 430 km/h tion method. Based on the following performance test data, the
optimum values of four material properties of the pantograph
Category V 370 km/h V 430 km/h model were obtained. The optimization results were validated by
comparing the following performance simulation and test results.
Average contact force (N) 143.2 142.0
Standard deviation (N) 69.7 122.1
Finally, the dynamic interaction between the catenary and pan-
Statistical max. of the 352.5 508.3 tograph was simulated. The catenary-pantograph model was veri-
contact force (N) fied by comparing the contact force results from the simulation
Statistical min. of the 66.0 224.3 and test at V 305 km/h. Also, when the pantograph drives at 370
contact force (N) km/h and 430 km/h, which are the operating and maximum speeds
Actual max. of the 319.5 421.0 of the next generation Korean high-speed train HEMU-400X, the
contact force (N) contact force variation and the possibility of the loss of contact
Actual min. of the 12.3 16.4 were discussed.
contact force (N) The car body, bogie, and wheel/rail contact will be added to our
Max. uplift at the 132.4/111.1/95.0 188.9/211.1/228.6
supports (mm)
future models. Also, the three- DOF pantograph model will be
advanced to the multibody model and the air resistance will also
be included. Using the model, the contact force variation during
curve negotiation and driving through a tunnel will be estimated.
standard of EN 50,119 to secure stable current collection perform-
ance. When the driving speed of the train is greater than 200 km/
h, the average contact force (Favg) must be smaller than 200 N, the Acknowledgment
statistical maximum contact force (Fsmax) must be smaller than This research was supported by a grant (Code07 Next Genera-
350 N, and the statistical minimum contact force (Fsmin) must be tion High Speed Train A01) from the Railroad Technology Devel-
positive. In Table 7, r is the standard deviation of the contact opment Program (RTDP) funded by the Ministry of Land,
force, and the statistical maximum and minimum contact forces Transport and Maritime Affairs of the Korean government.
are calculated as Fsmax Favg 3r and Fsmin Favg  3r,
respectively.
Table 8 shows the statistical analysis results regarding the simula- Appendix
tion and test data at V 305 km/h. The acceleration for 0 to maxi- The design table and simulation results are shown in Table 10
mum speed in 0.5 may introduce a transient effect due to the force and an ANOVA table is created as shown in Table 11.
impulse. Thus, the contact force results between the 3rd and 8th
spans shown in Fig. 18(a) are acquired and used for the statistical
analysis. The average contact forces of the simulation and test results
Table 10 Central composite design table and simulation
are only 0.9% apart, and the standard deviations are also very close.
results
The statistical maximum and minimum contact forces satisfy EN
50,119. In UIC 799 OR, the maximum vertical displacement of the No. m1 m2 k2 m3 Y
contact wire at the registration arm must be smaller than 120 mm.
The maximum uplift at the supports of 63.1 mm, 62.5 mm, and 59.9 1 6 9 12,200 10 0.7802
mm, which are the vertical displacements of the contact wire at the 2 6 9 12,200 18 1.3784
registration arms shown in Fig. 18(c), are much smaller than 120 3 6 9 15,000 10 1.2578
mm. Therefore, the simulation result follows the test data well, and it 4 6 9 15,000 18 1.3119
can be predicted that a loss of contact will not occur when the train 5 6 12 12,200 10 1.4569
drives at a speed of 305 km/h. 6 6 12 12,200 18 1.5112
7 6 12 15,000 10 0.3441
Figures 19(a) and 19(b) show the contact force results obtained 8 6 12 15,000 18 0.8223
when the simulation model employs speeds of 370 km/h and 9 11 12 15,000 18 2.4367
430 km/h, respectively. To analyze the meaning of the simulation 10 11 12 15,000 10 1.2323
results, the statistical values of the contact force are calculated as 11 11 12 12,200 18 3.1195
shown in Table 9. In Tables 8 and 9, the average contact forces 12 11 12 12,200 10 2.0293
are unchanged when driving at other speeds including 305 km/h, 13 11 9 15,000 18 1.5816
370 km/h, and 430 km/h. This is because the air resistance was 14 11 9 15,000 10 1.335
not considered in the pantograph model. In Table 9, the statistical 15 11 9 12,200 18 2.1674
maximum and minimum values do not satisfy EN 50,119 and, 16 11 9 12,200 10 1.1184
17 8.5 10.5 13,600 14 1.314
therefore, it is concluded that loss of contact will occur if the 18 4.965 10.5 13,600 14 0.8335
trains speed is over 370 km/h. 19 14.535 10.5 13,600 14 2.4502
20 8.5 8.379 13,600 14 1.43
21 8.5 14.121 13,600 14 2.1893
6 Conclusions 22 8.5 10.5 11,620.4 14 1.8648
In this paper, the dynamic analysis model of the catenary and pan- 23 8.5 10.5 16,979.6 14 0.8649
24 8.5 10.5 13,600 8.344 0.3574
tograph were created and their dynamic interaction had been simu-
25 8.5 10.5 13,600 23.656 2.1056
lated. An analytical procedure to compute the length of the droppers
of a catenary was presented. The length of each dropper were calcu-
lated with a design specification of the maximum presag and applied
to the catenary model. Static analysis was carried out, and the maxi- Table 11 ANOVA table for the maximum temperature of the
mum presag of the catenary model (0.0247 m) showed the error of disc
1.2% with the design specification (0.025 m). Furthermore, the wave
Factor S U V F0 F(0.01)
propagation speeds of the UIC standard and the catenary model was
compared, and an error of 2.1% was observed. This, therefore, veri- Regression Variation 9.97 4 2.49 49.68 4.43
fies the finite element model of the catenary presented. Residual Variation 1.0 20 0.05
On the contrary, the creation of a reliable three DOF panto- Sum 10.97 24
graph model was also presented. The material properties of a

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OCTOBER 2012, Vol. 7 / 041006-13