Experimental Characterization of Pantograph Arcs and Transient Conducted Phenomena in DC Railways

An electric arc is an example of a transient event that is quite common in electrified transportation systems as by-product of the current collection mechanism. As a broadband transient, an electric arc excites a wide range of (often oscillatory) responses related to the substation and onboard filters, as well as the line resonances and anti-resonances. Similarly do the charging of onboard filter and other related inrush events. This work considers the electrical characteristics of these transients and of the excited responses in order to define their typical spectral signatures in DC railways and take them into account concerning their impact on Power Quality measurements and the measurements of instruments deployed onboard.