Contents I. Introduction
High-Speed railways, being one of the most sustainable modes of transportation, have witnessed significant global development over the past decade. The energy supply solution for high-speed trains relies on a catenary system installed along the track. This system transfers energy to the train through a sliding contact with a pantograph mounted on the vehicle's roof, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The catenary's contact wire serves a dual purpose, acting as both the mechanical guide for the pantograph and the electrical conduit for the current. The efficiency of current collection relies heavily on the mechanical interaction performance between the contact wire and the pantograph collectors [1]. The mechanical interaction between the pantograph and catenary is the key to ensure a stable contact, which is important to maintain a good current transfer from the catenary to the train. In the present scenario, the next generation of high-speed railways being developed in various countries aims to achieve speeds of 400 km/h and above. To ensure a faster and safer train service at such high speeds, one crucial technical aspect is to guarantee high-quality current collection performance. Achieving this goal necessitates further in-depth fundamental research on pantograph-catenary interactions at 400 km/h and above [2]. In the majority of electrified railways in the world, the pantograph-catenary system is the only power source for the high-speed train. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the catenary is the cable structure erected along the railway, which connects with a mechanical system called a pantograph mounted on the train roof to transmit the electric current to the train. As the essential part of the traction power system [3], the sliding contact quality between the pantograph and the catenary is imperative to keep a safe and constant electrical transmission without traffic disorders.
Pantograph-catenary system.
