Waves in electric contact wires subjected to transversal impulses

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that the raising of the pantograph is followed by an electric arch. The reasons for this phenomenon are the oscillations of the pantograph and the oscillations of the contact line. Initially, these oscillations are not coupled. In this case, the mechanical contact between the two subsystems may be lost, and may generate electric arch. In the present work, the pantograph rising is modelled through a Dirac impulse. An analytic solution of the transverse waves is obtained by means of Fourier series. A phenomenological model of the wave attenuation is taken into account.