Force control of a semi active control collector shoe for electric railways

Trains get electric power from power supplier through power collectors. Typical examples of this structure are trolley wire and pantographs, or third rail and collector shoes. Contact force is generated when a power collector contacts power supplier in both systems. Sometimes there are some wave form reductions on the surface of power supplier, and it causes fluctuation of contact force. This force fluctuation causes further wave form reduction. This phenomenon makes maintenance cost higher. In addition, fluctuation of contact force limits speeding up of trains. To overcome this matter, a new power collector shoe model which focuses on the third rail power collection is proposed. This model can control contact force actively in order to reduce contact force fluctuation. Then, a force control method for the proposed model is proposed. Simulation and experiment are conducted to confirm effectiveness of the proposed method.