Formulations for simulating trajectories of the pantograph and reaction forces at nodal points of the pantograph mechanism are presented to develop the mechanism analysis program for railway pantograph with one contact strip. By comparison between the developed program and Solid Works®, commercial CAD S/W for tilting angles of the contact strip simulated during its upward motions, the accuracy of the formulations is validated. An optimal pantograph mechanism can be obtained by using the developed program which can simulate the changes of major design parameters, such as tilting angles of a contact strip and driving moments of a lower arm, as the lengths of members are changed.

Formulation of the finite element method(FEM) for dynamic interaction between a pantograph and contact wire, including non-linear formulation associated with contact wire stagger in the railway overhead contact line is presented. Penalty method is chosen for modelling contact between a pantograph and contact wire. The formulation is validated by comparing the simulated contact forces with measurements taken from 300 km/h KTX operation.