Overview
ABSTRACT
Although long used for many industrial applications, such as in trains and trams, channeling high currents is still done mainly by mechanical contact. However, the pantograph system rubbing against a catenary has significant disadvantages, especially at high speed (brakeage, wear and the Mach phenomenon). This article presents an innovative solution that eliminates mechanical contact. This solution, which uses a physical effect known as filamentation, consists of using a laser to generate plasma between the catenary and the pantograph, allowing a very low-resistance electrical discharge that can transmit a substantial current.
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Read the articleINTRODUCTION
At a time when high-speed trains are booming, electrical collection by means of a pantograph rubbing against a catenary remains one of the Achilles' heels of their high-speed operation. We have tested an innovative idea that could eventually provide a solution to this problem. The idea is to capture the current without mechanical contact. The catenary-pantograph link would be made via a conductive plasma created by a laser emitting ultra-short, intense laser pulses. An initial series of experiments at the SNCF test center in Vitry has produced promising results.
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High-current electrical discharge induced in the air by laser filamentation
Alternative to capturing high currents by mechanical contact
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