Modeling, Simulation and Monitoring of Electrical Contacts Temperature in Railway Electric Traction

Abstract

The paper presents a mathematical modeling approach to determine the permanent regime temperature of an electric contact found in the supply system of the railway electric traction. Mathematical modeling is a basic procedure in the preliminary determination of parameters of interest in various fields of scientific analysis. The numerical modeling method used for determining the electric contact temperature represents the base for developing a finite-element thermal model. The simulation of the electric contact was verified by an experimental infrared investigation of an electric contact realized on a realistic laboratory setup. The results interpretation reveals a good synchronization between the calculated, simulated and measured temperatures.

Considerations Regarding Electrical Equipment Monitoring Through Infrared Thermography

“…Ambient temperature of the investigated element: the higher its value, the higher the value of the investigated element will result. In the case of current donor paths, the temperature value on their surface when traveled by current is made up of the sum of the ambient temperature value and the overtemperature, (Dragomir et al, 2021). This factor is considered in the algorithm of infrared monitoring devices.…”

“…Temperature transmission through the investigated element does not occur too often in cases of monitoring, therefore it will be neglected. The correction factor Kp may constitute a maximum of 5% of the true value, according to (Dragomir et al, 2021), it is inferred that the apparent temperature monitored by the infrared device will consist of the actual temperature θr influenced by emissivity and reflexivity.…”