LOW NOISE PANTOGRAPH ASP - RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The aeroacoustic noise of a pantograph increases dramatically with the train speed. Especially at a very high speed of 300 km/h and above the aeroacoustic noise of the pantograph may exceed the rolling noise of the wheels. Since it is inappropriate and expensive to build high noise barriers to screen the pantograph, a new design of pantographs is necessary for future high speed trains. In cooperation with DaimlerChrysler Rail Systems, an actively controlled single-arm pantograph (ASP) will be developed until next year in order to improve the quality of the contact force fluctuation and to reduce the aeroacoustic noise emission using computer simulation to estimate the aeroacoustic noise. These simulations are very helpful when developing an optimized design and avoiding unacceptable designs in an early state of development. First simulation results of the recent developments of the pantograph head are presented. For the covering abstract see ITRD E107776.