Simulation of Partial Discharge from a Railway Pantograph

This paper considers partial discharges from a railway pantograph. Experimental results are compared with corresponding Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation models. A three-dimensional model is used to confirm the location and magnitude of peak electric fields within the pantograph identified by the experimental results. Following this, discharges from the tips of the current carriers, which were identified as the peak field points, are simulated using a two-dimensional drift diffusion axisymmetric model. The magnitudes of apparent charge and their occurrence within the cycle obtained through simulation are found to be in agreement with the experimental data. Possible future work could include investigation of the influence of environmental factors on partial discharges and the impact of ionisation coefficient on the results.