2. Power semiconductors
In rail traction, the weight and volume of on-board equipment must be kept to a minimum. Depending on installation constraints and the traction performance to be ensured, rolling stock manufacturers ask semiconductor manufacturers to specialize certain features in order to limit the number of components to be combined in series and/or parallel. Frequently, these components are at the limits of current technological know-how.
2.1 Component performance
In the railway sector, static converters are designed for a transfer power limited to a few megawatts, and semiconductors are subject to voltage stresses of up to 4 kV DC: this is the case for trains running under catenary with a nominal voltage of 3 kV DC, for example on the Belgian network.
...
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
This article is included in
Railway systems
This offer includes:
Knowledge Base
Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees
Services
A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources
Practical Path
Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills
Doc & Quiz
Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading
Power semiconductors
Continuous catenary input converter
