AUTOMATIC CONTACT WIRE WEAR MEASUREMENT

Adrian W C Shing*, C W Li*, Giovanni Pascoschi†, Pasquale Antuofermo†

*Mass Transit Railway Corporation, Hong Kong

†
Mer Mec SpA, Italy

Keywords: Contact Wire Wear, Contact Wire Wear device, the experience gained over the first few months and
Measurement, Catenary, Condition Based Monitoring, the intention of condition based monitoring of the contact
Automated Measurement. wires are going to be reported in this article.

Abstract 2 Contact Wire Wear

Modern electric trains get energy from trackside. If the
overhead conductor system is selected to deliver the electric 2.1 Typical OCS Arrangement
energy, then the pantograph and contact wire interface will
form a wear couple continuous throughout the railway Some typical modern overhead conductor systems (OCS) are
network. The renewal of contact wire must be done on site shown in Figure 1. They all have the solid contact wire as the
during the non traffic hours by using extensive manpower and lowest wire to interface with the pantograph collector strips of
expensive plants. So a precise picture of the degree of wire electric train for current collection. At their interaction, the
wear and its rate of wear would be important to the railway mechanical friction and the electrical arcing would lead to the
infrastructure maintainer. Manual measurement of wire wear wear and tear of both the contact wire and collector strip [5].
using gauge or calliper is inefficient and error-prone. This Their renewal would be inevitable and carried out many times
article discusses the formulation of a specification for the over the asset life of the host systems that have a much longer
acquisition of an automatic contact wire wear measurement life span.
system and the technology adopted for the realization of this Simple
automatic measurement. On commissioning and testing of
this new device, the experience gained in the first few months
and the intention of condition based monitoring of the contact
wires are also reported in this article.
Compound
1 Introduction
Modern electric trains, unlike the diesel powered trains, get
energy from trackside. If the overhead conductor system is
selected to deliver the electric energy, then the pantograph
and contact wire upon interaction will form a wear couple Stitched
similar to the classical wear couple of wheel on rail that are
continuous throughout the railway network. Unlike the
replacement of pantograph strips that can be carried out off-
site in depot, the renewal of contact wire must be done on site
within the restrictive period of non traffic hours by using Pre-sagged
extensive manpower and expensive plants. So a precise
picture of the degree of wire wear and its rate of wear would CONTACT WIRE SAGGED

be very important to the railway infrastructure maintainer.

One is to formulate a long term replacement plan that is
financially sound. The other is to keep track the localized
wire wear at problematic locations for just-in-time repair to
prevent plausible wire breakage. Manual measurement of the
degree of wire wear using gauge or calliper is, however, both
inefficient and error-prone. This article discusses the
formulation of a specification for the acquisition of an
automatic contact wire wear measurement system and the
technology adopted for the realization of this automatic
measurement. On commissioning and testing of this new
Figure 1: Four typical OCS arrangements
2.2 Engineering Requirement of Contact Wire
Figure 2 shows the wear states of the contact wire when new,
and at 20% and 33% worn. Unlike the collector strips that can
be replaced off-site in depot, the renewal of contact wire must
be on site and has to be completed within a very restrictive
time frame.
 h

(h – r) r
α α
(a) new (b) ∼20% worn (c) ∼ 33% worn
Figure 2: Cross section of a contact wire A

To meet the current collection requirement, there are several w/2 w/2
types of wire in suspension continuously over the track to
meet the need of traction power supply for electric trains. Of Figure 3: Cross section at worn surface
these wires, the engineering specification of the contact wire
is the most demanding. It has to achieve: The traditional method was to measure the residue thickness h
of the wire by caliper (Figure 4a) during the non traffic hours
• less than the maximum allowable resistance per unit after the electrical shutdown of the OCS. The measurement
length of the OCS to restrain the voltage drop process was labor intensive, monotonous and error-prone (see
• more than the minimum tensile strength of wire to satisfy Figure 4b). Measurement intensity was sparse and only at the
the factor of safety (FOS) at the prescribed working cantilever and mid-span. The measurement records had to be
tension coded manually for trend analysis by using computer and for
• maneuverability for site installation and subsequent subsequent usage through condition based monitoring
maintenance techniques. Though manual measurement is tedious and not
frequent, it still dictates how frequent it was necessary to
In an example of the Overhead Conductor System (OCS) of access the OCS for operational and survival measurement.
the MTR Urban Lines, the cross sectional area of a used
contact wire “averaged” over a long length should not be less
than 80% of a new wire (Figure 2b). This is an operational
parameter to ensure the traction motor of a distant train which
is far away from feeding substation still get a minimum
design voltage at the receiving end. Moreover, the contact
wire at any “spot” should not be worn out to less than 67%
(Figure 2c) of the original cross sectional area. This is a
survival parameter to ensure the wire integrity at twice
(specified FOS) tensile working load of 12 kN. (a) Correctly set (b) Incorrectly set
Figure 4: Measurement by caliper
2.3 Manual Measurement
3 Automated Wear Measurement
To diagnosis the operational and survival conditions of the
contact wire, indirect measurement method to measure the
residue height of the contact wire was the usual approach to 3.1 Benefits of Automated Wear Measurement System
determine the remaining cross sectional area. From Figure 3,
More frequent and accurate measurement of contact wire
worn width (w) and the inscribed angle (α) are given by
wear is a pre-requisite management tool to prevent plausible
Equations 1 and 2 respectively.
and sporadic broken contact wire scenarios. Manual
measurement used to be inefficient, long cycle time and
[ ]
1
− preempt the alternative use track accessible time for other
w = 2 r 2 - (h - r) 2 2 [1]
engineering works. It is anticipated that an automated and
efficient measurement system could deliver many benefits to
w
α = sin −1 ( ) [2] the maintenance of the OCS. In particular if the contact wire
2r had been worn out to or close at operational or survival limits.
The expected benefits are:
The worn area (A) in Figure 3 is given by Equation 3.
• Reliable and fast data collection; data are already in digital
2 w w
−1 form at acquisition
A = r sin ( ) − (h − r ) [3]
2r 2 • Efficient use of track accessible time and release the
scarce period to other important engineering works
• Early identification and correction of OCS installation
defects of new installation if abnormal wear is found
• Mitigation of broken wire risk by tackling the early signs Geometry Measurand
of abnormal wire dwindling Cross sectional area (A) Resistance
• Contact wire life extension programme feasible by having Inductance
comprehensive analysis Residue diameter (h) Ultrasonic reflection
• Dynamic performance improvement programme feasible Lateral reflected light
to enable better current collection quality by the Guided rollers depression
pantograph Change in R & C
Wear width (w) CCD image processing
• Cost effective Condition Monitoring (CBM) plan for OCS
Slot camera
maintenance.
Table 1: Measurement methods
In the maintenance organization of the authors in MTR, an
automated Contact Wire Wear measurement (CWWM) 4 Automatic Measurement System Features
System would play a pivotal role to enhance maintenance
efficiency and effectiveness as well as to maintain the current
4.1 Key Features in the Procurement Specifications
high level of OCS availability and reliability.
In 2001 the MTR Corporation Limited decided to acquire an
3.2 Measurement Method automatic CWWM System and had it being retrofitted to the
Track and Overhead Geometry Measuring Vehicle (TOV).
A typical OCS system (Figure 5) has contact and messenger
The rear space on the roof of the TOV (Figure 7) had been
wires, steady arm and dropper. The clamps at steady arms and
earmarked for an extension.
droppers were used to register and suspend the contact wire
but they obstructed the automation of the traditional method
using calliper to measure h. There were many other indirect
methods proposed to overcome the measurement difficulties.
They based on the physical characteristics of cross-sectional
area (A), residue diameter (h) and wear width (w) that are
shown in Figure 3. The measurement approaches are
described by Yu [6] and summarized in Table 1. Until now
enormous time and effort are spent to try with limited success
at experimental or small scale applications except the optical
method [1, 2, 3]. They cannot meet the present requirement of
fast and accurate measurement. With the advance of
technology such as CCD camera and laser technology, the
speed and accuracy as necessary for automated contact wire
wear measurement has now become possible. It is due to the
adoption of optical method and the commercially available Figure 7: The TOV of the MTR Corporation Limited
optical components as building blocks for computer vision.
Figure 6 is a glimpse of the achievement by JR. In deriving the procurement specifications [4], the client had
considered the requirements on system accuracy,
measurement resolution, effect of height & stagger, worn
messenger wire width & residual thickness, number of wires, kilometerage
dropper marker, sampling, frequency, train speed, measurement
repeatability, trend analysis, exception reporting, equipment
reliability, water tightness of equipment at roof (IP),
measurement compensation due to coach suspension to refer
steady arm geometry parameters to the track, calibration etc. The final
contact wire
format had the following user requirement parts: key
capabilities, supplementary functions, external conditions,
measurement accuracy and repeatability. They are elaborated
Figure 5: Automation by using calliper obstructed as follow.

4.1.1 Key capabilities:

• Measure wire height, stagger and residual height of the
contact wires. See Table 2 for examples of the parameters.
• Measure up to four wires to handle overlap section of two
tension lengths
(a) Dr Yellow (b) A glimpse of laser on wire
• Provide real-time on-line visual monitoring aims during
Figure 6: Optical method by Dr Yellow measurement run
• Produce on-line print out in graphic format of the data 4.1.4 Accuracy and repeatability of measurements under the
obtained during measurement run different conditions:
• Provide post-measurement analysis, such as irregularities
• Independent of the train speed and direction of travel
summary, trend plot and quality index for each sections of
• In tunnels and open sections, including a short passage
wire
underneath bridge structures across the track
• Provide database storage of the measured data exportable
• Not be affected by the ambient light and weather
for analytical use.
condition, including heavy rain or strong sunlight
• Not be affected by electrical arcing or scintillation on the
Wire wear measurement
Measurement range* 6.9 - 13.5mm contact wire during measurement run
Static Accuracy ±0.1mm • Not be affected by stagger or slant angle of the contact
Dynamic Accuracy ±0.1mm wires away from track center
Resolution 0.01mm • Not be affected by cant of the wear surface of contact
Repeatability ±0.1mm wires with respect to line joining the top level of two
Standard Deviation (2σ) 0.1mm running rails
Confidence level 96% • Not be affected by in-line connection of the section
Wire height measurement insulators and background, such as tunnel crown, SGI, cut
Measurement range 3.85m - 5.35m and cover…etc
Static Accuracy ±5mm • Not be affected by in-line components, such as, grooved
Dynamic Accuracy ±5mm connection of droppers, spacers, cantilever, elastic
Resolution 1mm supports and jumpers…etc.
Repeatability ±5mm
Standard Deviation (2σ) 5mm All roof mounted equipment would be weather-proof and
Confidence level 96% sealed to avoid penetration of dirt, dust, moisture and water.
Wire stagger measurement The degree of protection is at least IP67 classified in
Measurement range -380mm : +380mm accordance with IEC529:1989 or equivalent. Another
Static Accuracy ±5mm requirements are the compliance with vibrations/shocks (RIA
Dynamic Accuracy ±5mm 20) and EMC in railways environment (EN 50121).
Resolution 1mm
Repeatability ±5mm
Standard Deviation (2σ) 5mm 4.2 Project Time Line
Confidence level 96%
This project is to retrofit a CWWM System into an existing
* range: 13.5mm - 8.9mm accuracy: 0.1mm (2σ)
TOV vehicle of the MTR. Its development has been long
* range: 8.9mm - 7.9mm accuracy: 0.1mm (1σ)
from inception to completion. One of the reasons was the
* range: 7.9mm - 6.9mm accuracy: 0.2mm (1σ)
development of this new product line and the high accuracy
Table 2: spec of key features required
and resolution requirement of wear measurement.
4.1.2 Supplementary functions to provide information Year Stages
associated with the parameters measured: 2001 project inception and specification
• Vehicle speed 2002 contract awarded and system design
• Vehicle travel direction – forward and reverse 2003 manufacturing and factory acceptance tests
• Track kilometerage 2004 site acceptance tests and commissioning
• Vehicle inclination
• Ambient temperature At hindsight, the optimal solution to balance the instrument
• Real time and date information cost, the quality of data, such as accuracy and resolution, and
• Route features the long design and fabrication time of the instrument could
be a subject for further study if a new CWWM System is
going to be installed.
4.1.3 Satisfactory measurement under different external
conditions: 5 Automatic CWWM System in MTR
• the overhead traction supply is either energised or de-
energised
• under all weather conditions in daytime and at night, 5.1 General Description of CWWM System
including strong sunlight or raining The automatic CWWM system architecture is composed by
• in both directions of travel two levels: acquisition units and processing units. The
• inside tunnels and open sections, including a short passage acquisition units are composed mainly by six cameras and an
underneath bridge structures across the track. array of lasers. The general layout of the equipment on roof
top is shown in Figures 8.
 w’ = apparent
wire width

Registration
pull

Figure 8: Roof top equipment – General layout

Figure 10: Wire stagger effect on width compensated
The automatic CWWM System is comprised of four
Contact
processing units namely Height & Stagger (HSPU), Lower wire
Wear (LWPM), Upper Wear (UWPU) and Interfacing rotated
Systems (ISPU) Processing Units. They are connected
together to an ethernet hub with HSPU as the master unit. The
HSPU, LWPU and UWPU are each connected to two cameras Apparent
that capture the images of the contact wire height, stagger and width seen
Apparent
wear surface width as shrine on them by monochromatic laser width seen
by camera
(810 nm). The four processing units are installed inside the larger
by camera
coach and are shown in Figure 9. smaller

SHPU
Figure 11: Wire rotation effect on width compensated
UWPU
In Figure 11, the computer vision would derive a narrower
and wider width from one or the other camera. Their average
would provide a good approximation of the wear width.

5.3 Graphical Interface

The stagger and height (second and third curves in Figure 12)
in graphical display are similar to the existing deliverables by
LWPU TOV. Using the same format, the first curve in Figure 14 is
used to display the wire wear. Control limits are marked in
ISPU grey/yellow.

Figure 9: Four processing computers in cabinet

5.2 Computer Vision

This CWWM system interprets the residue height (h) of
contact wire by measuring the wear width (w) of the wire as
seen by the cameras. However, the computer vision is not
simply just reading the number of pixels illuminated and
adjusted by contact wire height. The pair of HSPU cameras
has to determine which set of cameras, from either LWPU or
UWPU to be used. On proper selection of the image from the
PUs, the apparent width (w’) has to be adjusted by the sweep
rate (change of stagger per unit length). Adjustment is also
necessary for localized rotation of contact wire. The
adjustment principles are shown in Figures 10 and 11. Figure 12: Graphic User Interface
5.3 Testing and Commissioning
During the FAT - Factory Acceptance Test in Italy, several
tests (as shown in the figures 13 and 14) have been carried out.
Also field surveys had been carried out by using the
ARCHIMEDE Diagnostic train of RFI to check
functionalities before shipment to client (see Figure 15).

(a) Exact match with manual measurement record

Figure 13: EMC tests in certified laboratory

(b) Off-set from manual measurement record

Figure 16: Result of accuracy check

Acknowledgements
Figure 14: RIA 20 tests in certified laboratory The authors would like to thank the Management of the Mass
Transit Railway Corporation Limited and Mer Mec Spa to
support and allow the publishing of this paper.

References
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Figure 15: System installed on ARCHIMEDE train roof (2003)
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