Safety assurance of a dropper in overhead catenary system of the electrical railway

초록

In overhead catenary system of the electrical railway, the contact wire supplies electrical energy for a train through the contact with a pantograph. And a messenger wire supports the contact line via a dropper, a copper alloy wire stranded. For the improvement of a train speed from overhead system point of view, it is necessary to study not only the dynamic behaviours between the overhead catenary system and pantograph but the fatigue behaviors of components for a safety assurance according to the increase of vibration level and the different line conditions. The dropper is one of the critical components in the system. In this study, a cause analysis of the dropper clamp and wire fractured in actual line was performed. And a fatigue test method for safety assurance of them was also suggested. The dynamic forces acting on a dropper were measured in actual line and analyzed to figure out the dynamic characteristics of the dropper. And in order to assure the safety of dropper clamp and cable, we proposed a fatigue test facility as well as test method based on the test results.