Electrokinematical Simulation for Flexible Energetic Studies of Railway Systems

Simulation is a valuable tool to evaluate energy consumptions and design of railway systems. The system limitations have an important influence on the system behavior and must be taken into account in the simulation. Especially, the electromechanical limitations have a major impact on the kinematical behavior. However, such limitations are often neglected in classical studies. This paper deals with the development of an adaptive electrokinematical simulation to adapt the kinematical behavior of the system according to its limitations. A flexible simulation tool is thus obtained by taking into account electrical, mechanical, as well as kinematical limitations. This tool is validated by experimental results on a real railway track. It is then used to study different solutions to increase the transport capacity of a subway system, even when limitations occur.