Standart Catenary System

Conductors
Poles
Carrier System
Insulators
Supply System
Rail Bonding

Rigid Catenary System

Rigid catenary is an overhead line electrical supply system used in the rail systems as an alternative to the standard catenary and the 3rd Rail.

Rigid catenary consists of aluminum profile and contact wire in general. The contact wire is suspended by means of the aluminum profile and the current collector (pantograph) contacts with the contact wire.

The rigid catenary system can be used not only for 750V DC and 1500V DC light rail and metro systems but also for 3kV DC, 15kV AC and 25kV AC systems.

The Advantages of the Rigid Catenary System Compared to the Standard Catenary

Since the rigid catenary is an overhead line system as the standard catenary, the equipment and pantographs used in the standard catenary system can be used for the rigid catenary system, as well.  
Rigid design is robust and reliable. There isn’t any possibility of the breaking of the contact wire as is the case in standard catenary systems.
The installation works can be performed rapidly, easily and safely due to the low number of parts.
The replacement or renewal of the contact wire is done only by a single-step operation.
The current carrying capacity and the short circuit resistance of the rigid catenary system are significantly higher than those of the standard catenary system.
Furthermore, there is no need for additional line feeder or cable to extend the cable section electrically.
Since a very small distance as the height is required for the rigid catenary system, it’s an ideal system in terms of reducing the tunnel construction costs.
No tensioning devices are required for the rigid catenary system.
The rigid catenary can be mounted on the curves with a radius higher than 120 m without being subject to any previous bending process.
As the joiner plates connecting the profiles are located in the profiles in the rigid catenary system, they provide an optimum conductance.
There isn’t any mechanical tensioning (forcing) on the contact wire in the profile. Therefore, the wearing of the contact wire is permitted up to 35%. The only limitation here is that the pantograph mustn’t contact with the aluminum profile. Yet the permitted wearing rate is 20% for the standard catenary systems.
Since high rate of wearing is permitted on the contact wire and replacement is guaranteed in a short time, the maintenance cost of the system will be considerably low.

3. Advantages Compared to the Rail
3. For the Rail:
It requires more safety precautions in terms of public safety.
The cost will be high as a result of the need for a lot of equipment.
Due to the higher friction force of the current collector, extensive maintenance will be required which will increase the maintenance costs.

Cable Transmission Support Profile


 

Profile Cross-Section	2.220 mm2
Total Height of the Profile	110 mm
Profile Length	10-12m
Profile Weight Kg/m	6,1
Inertia Moment 1xx	338x104 mm4
Inertia Moment 1yy	113,7x10 mm4
Copper Equivalent Cross-Section	1.400 mm2
Expansion Coefficient	24x10 -6
Elasticity Modulus	69.000 N/mm2