23. HILS for the current collection systems using a High-Speed Test Facility for Pantograph/OCL Systems

To evaluate pantograph performance, it is important to conduct evaluation in an environment with overhead contact line (OCL) vibration, as well as sliding due to travel and stagger of the OCL.
We previously developed a system capable of evaluating pantograph performance under the influence of OCL vibration up to high frequencies, as a HILS (Hardware-Inthe-Loop Simulation) for the current collection systems.
However, the method was unable to take into account the effects of sliding or stagger of the OCL.
To resolve this issue, we embedded a HILS for the current collection systems in a High-Speed Test Facility for Pantograph/OCL Systems (HiPaC). Although the OCL vibrations that can be considered with this HILS system are limited to low frequencies, the system can take into account the effects of sliding and stagger of the OCL, as well as temperature rises and component wear due to ambient temperature, humidity, and energization (Fig. 1).
In the HiPaC, the mass of the moving part is large compared to that of the previously developed HILS for the current collection systems and the frequency characteristics are also more complex. For this reason, developing a HILS compensator suitable for the HiPaC makes it possible to take into account OCL vibrations up to the frequency at which the pantograph travels from one supporting point to another (approx. 2 Hz).
As a result, evaluations of the uplift of the contact wire at the supporting points through which the pantograph passes, which is an important indicator for the safety of the OCL systems, as well as selection of an appropriate damper constant for the pantograph, can now be conducted based on a bench test (Fig. 2).
Previously, such evaluations could only be made by on-track testing. This new method therefore makes it possible to develop higher performance pantographs more efficiently and less expensively.