Modelling of Stray Currents Near a Railway Platform

Abstract

The article describes simulations of the occurrence of stray currents in the vicinity of a SUDOPtype railway platform. Stray currents occur in the vicinity of a railway platform during the passage of a railway vehicle. In a fault-free state, all metallic parts are separated from the rail by means of a surge arrester. In the case of a breakdown of the surge arrester, the full voltage which is on the rail at the time of the passing railway vehicle may also pass onto the metallic parts. The surge arresters are checked every 6 months during maintenance work on the overhead lines according to Annex No. 1 of SZDC internal regulation E 500. The article, therefore, carries out a simulation of stray currents in exactly this type of breakdown. In addition, to the model, we included the influence of the outdoor lighting cable which is located in the ground under the platform. For the purposes of solving the model, we are using a commercially available program which solves partial differential equations and uses the finite element method for calculation.