Temperature Prediction of Railway Overhead Contact Wire

Unlike other current carrying power conductors, the railway overhead contact wire is unique because it is subjected to direct interaction with the pantograph conductor. And due to the absence of an insulating layer, the contact wire is more susceptible to environmental factors. Thus, the temperature variation is not only contributed to by Joule’s heating effect, but also due to friction and arcing between the contact wire and the pantograph conductor interface. To predict the resulting temperature, a numerical model of the contact wire has been developed. In this algorithm, the dynamic interaction of the contact wire and pantograph is incorporated to predict temperature variation due to friction. The numerical model simulation of the contact wire shows only 0.1°C variation with the experimental measurements obtained from a laboratory test setup developed at the Centre for Railway Engineering. The study also suggested that a non-contact infrared camera should be mounted above the contact wire to ensure a sufficiently high emissivity surface is present for temperature measurement.