Simulation research on the erosion of arc to bow-net materials

Catenary arc is a common electrical phenomenon in the power supply system of high-speed railways. Therefore, studying the characteristics of catenary arcs and their ablation mechanism on catenary materials is of great significance for mitigating material damage and optimizing the design of arc resistance performance. This study, based on the COMSOL multiphysics simulation software, established a two-dimensional transient simulation model of catenary arcs and systematically analyzed the influence laws of arc current, environmental humidity, and wind speed changes on the evolution of the molten pool of catenary materials. The simulation results show that an increase in arc current accelerates the expansion of the molten pool; environmental humidity has an inhibitory effect on the size of the molten pool; and an increase in wind speed causes a significant shift in the molten pools of the contact wire and the sliding plate. This research can provide certain theoretical support for the optimized design of high-speed railway catenary materials.