This thesis deals with the application of analytical and numerical tools to Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) management in railways. Analytical and numerical tools are applied to study the electromagnetic coupling from an alternating current (AC) electrified railway line, and to study the electrical properties of concrete structure - a widely used component within the railway infrastructure. An electrified railway system is a complex distributed system consisting of several sub-systems, with different voltage and current levels, co-located in a small area. An analytical method, based on transmissions line theory, is developed to investigate railway electromagnetic coupling. The method is used to study an electrified railway line in which the running rails and earth comprise the current retum path. The model is then modified to include the presence of booster transformers. The analytical model can be used to study the railway current distribution, earth potential and electromagnetic coupling - inductive and conductive coupling - to nearby metallic structures. The limiting factor of the analytical model is the increasing difficulty in resolving the analytical equation as the complexity of the railway model increases. A large scale railway numerical model is implemented in Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) and the electromagnetic fields propagated from the railway model is studied. As this work focuses on the direct application of TLM in railway EMC management, a commercially available TIM software package is used. The limitation of the numerical model relates to the increased computation resource and simulation time required as the complexity of the railway model increases. The second part of this thesis deals with the investigation of the electrical properties of concrete and the development of a dispersive material model that can be implemented in numerical simulators such as TIM. Concrete is widely used in the railway as structural components in the construction of signalling equipment room, operation control centres etc. It is equally used as sleepers in the railway to hold the rails in place or as concrete slabs on which the whole rail lines are installed. It is thus important to understand the contribution of concrete structures to the propagation of electromagnetic wave and its impact in railway applications. An analytical model, based on transmission line theory, is developed for the evaluation of shielding effectiveness of a concrete slab; the analytical model is extended to deal with reinforced concrete slab and conductive concrete. The usefulness and limitation of the model is discussed. A numerical model for concrete is developed for the evaluation of the effectiveness of concrete as a shield. Initially, concrete is modelled as a simple dielectric material, using the available dielectric material functionality within TLM. It is noted that the simple dielectric model is not adequate to characterise the behaviour of concrete over the frequency range of interest. Better agreement is obtained with concrete modelled as a dispersive material having material properties similar to that exhibited by materials obeying Debye equation. The limitations of the dispersive material model are equally discussed. The design of conductive concrete is discussed, these have application in the railway industry where old existing structures are to be converted to functional rooms to house sensitive electronic system. A layer of conductive concrete can be applied to the facade to enhance the global shielding of the structure.

No description available.

The latest generation of AC-fed traction drives, employing high-speed switching devices, is able to control the reactive power drawn from the overhead line by each equipment. If the conditions at each locomotive or train could be fed back to a central control point, it is possible for a centrally located controller to calculate optimal values for the reactive power in each drive and to send those commands back to the individual equipment. In this thesis, AC railway power flows are optimised in real time and the results are used to achieve some particular system objective via control of the PWM equipment as mobile reactive power compensators. The system voltage profile and the total power losses can be improved while the overall power factor at the feeder substation is also made nearer to unity. For off-line simulation purposes, high execution speeds and low storage requirements are not generally significant with the latest computer hardware. However, this real-time control employs on-line optimising controllers, which need embedded power solvers running many times faster than real time. Thus, a fast and efficient algorithm for AC railway power flow calculation was developed. The proposed scheme is compared to a conventional reactive power compensation, e.g. SVC, and found to be less expensive to implement. Several test cases for AC electric railway systems are examined. The centralised area control system leads to the best improvement where an existing fleet of diode or thyristor phase-angle controlled locomotives is partially replaced with PWM ones, compared to that obtained without compensation or to classical track-side Var compensation methods. From these results, the potential for PWM locomotives to improve overall system performance is confirmed.

Le système pantographe–caténaire (PAC) est un maillon vital de la chaîne de transmission d'énergie électrique aux moteurs de traction électrique ferroviaire. Ce système est complexe à cause de la nature dynamique de ses composants, qui sont en outre, soumis à diverses sollicitations physiques et environnementales. Il est donc important de bien modéliser et d'analyser le PAC afin d'élaborer des méthodologies adéquates d'analyse, de modélisation et de commande. Dans cette thèse, le travail présenté commence par une étude approfondie du modèle du système PAC en tenant compte des paramètres et des phénomènes physiques du PAC. En premier lieu, un modèle mathématique à base de la méthode des Éléments Finis du système PAC est proposé. En second lieu, et pour des raisons de commande et de régulation, nous proposons un modèle simplifié qui représente suffisamment bien le comportement dynamique du système. L'un de nos objectifs est d'améliorer le contact entre l'archet du pantographe et la caténaire dans le but de garantir un minimum d'usure tout en ayant une alimentation électrique permanente et régulière pour les trains à grande vitesse. La problématique est donc de maintenir une force de contact constante et régulière entre le pantographe et la caténaire dans des limites acceptables et en tenant compte des perturbations occurrentes. Dans cet esprit, nous avons développé des commandes robustes pour améliorer le contact entre le pantographe et la caténaire. Par ailleurs, les aspects pratiques de cette thèse se reflètent par la réalisation et la mise en œuvre d'un banc d'essai pantographe actif/caténaire et le développement d’un logiciel de gestion et de simulation du système PAC / The pantograph-catenary system (PAC) is a vital link in the electrical power transmission chain to the railway electric traction motors. This system is complex due to the dynamic nature of its components, which are subject to various physical and environmental stresses. It is therefore important to model and analyze the PAC to develop appropriate methodologies for analysis, modeling and control. In this thesis, the presented work begins with a thorough study of the PAC model, taking into account the parameters and physical phenomena of the PAC. First, a mathematical model based on the Finite Elements method of the PAC system is proposed. Second, for reasons of control and regulation, we propose a simplified model that adequately represents the dynamic behavior of the system. One of our goals is to improve the contact between the pantograph head and overhead contact line in order to ensure minimum wear while having a permanent and regular power supply for high-speed trains. So the problem is to maintain a constant and regular contact force between the pantograph and the catenary, within acceptable limits and taking into account disturbances. With this in mind, we have developed robust controls to improve the contact between the pantograph and the catenary. The practical aspect of this thesis is reflected by the creation and implementation of a test bed for the pantograph-active/catenary and the development of a management and simulation software for PAC system

La sobriété énergétique des systèmes de transport est primordiale afin de limiter leur impact environnemental. Ainsi les transports en communs électriques, tels que les métros ou tramways, sont fortement sollicités dans les zones urbaines. Diverses solutions innovantes sont apparues récemment afin d’accroître d’avantage leur efficacité énergétique (systèmes de stockage d’énergie, stations d’alimentation réversibles, etc.). Cependant, au vu de la complexité des études de dimensionnement et d’optimisation de ces systèmes, les outils de simulation numérique sont devenus indispensables. Or, ces outils sont particulièrement délicats à développer en raison des non-linéarités (non-réversibilité des stations d’alimentation), des non-stationnarités (mouvement des rames), et des fortes interactions énergétiques qui existent au sein des systèmes ferroviaires. Cette thèse propose alors un nouvel outil de simulation de carrousel de métros basé sur le formalisme REM (Représentation Energétique Macroscopique). Ce formalisme a pour volonté de structurer les modèles mis en jeux suivant les propriétés énergétiques du système. Il conduit à des approches de simulation « forward » avec un usage exclusif de la causalité intégrale. De ce fait, le programme de simulation proposé est issu d’une approche innovante et permet d’avoir un nouveau regard sur le système de carrousel de métros. Ces approches permettent notamment d’accroitre la flexibilité du programme de simulation tout en garantissant des résultats de simulation physiques. De plus, cette thèse a une volonté affichée de valider expérimentalement l’ensemble des modèles développés. / Transportation systems have to be efficient in terms of energy in order to limit their environmental impact. Electric public transportation, such as subways or tramways, is thus strongly requested in urban areas. Various innovative solutions have emerged recently to increase their energy efficiency (energy storage systems, reversible traction power substations, etc.). However, due to the complexity of the development and optimization of such systems, numerical simulation tools are essential. Nevertheless, simulators of railway systems are particularly delicate to develop due to non-linearity (non-reversibility of traction power substations), non-stationary (displacement of trains), and multiple energetic interactions which exists within these kind of systems. This PhD thesis then proposes a new simulation tool of subway system based on EMR formalism (Energetic Macroscopic Representation). This formalism structures the models according to the energetic properties of the system. It leads to a forward simulation approach with exclusive use of the integral causality. In that way, the proposed simulation tool is stemming from an innovative approach and allows a new vision of subway systems. These approaches allow especially the increasing of the simulator flexibility and the obtaining of physical simulation results. Moreover, this PhD thesis has the particularity to experimentally validate all the developed models.