Ice-covered Environmental Adaptability Assessment for Overhead Contact System in High-speed Railways

High-speed trains rely on pantograph-catenary systems (PCSs) to collect electrical energy from power systems. However, the dynamic interaction between the pantograph and the catenary system may become mismatched once ice accumulates on the overhead conductors. More frequent arcing may occur within the PCS during train operation, posing an unpredictable threat to operational safety. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the ability of overhead contact system (OCS) to withstand ice-covered variability during line desgin. A new strategy is proposed to evaluate the adaptive performance of an OCS under various icing conditions. First, a dynamic model considering icing conditions is constructed to simulate the interaction within the PCS. Five different OCS structures with various icing thicknesses are studied. The parameters of the contact force within the PCS and proportion of high-possibility arcing moments are obtained. The dependence of the contact force on the icing thickness and pantograph displacement has been illustrated in the form of cloud maps. Finally, the OCS sensitivity coefficient is calculated, and ice-covered environmental adaptability assessments for the five different OCS structures are compared.