A Comparative Study on the Influence of Track and Conductor Rail Irregularity on Collector Shoe-Conductor Rail Interaction Dynamics

Pan, Like; Xing, Tong; Dai, Wenrui; Xu, Yan; Zhu, Weidong

doi:10.3390/machines14050475

Open AccessArticle

A Comparative Study on the Influence of Track and Conductor Rail Irregularity on Collector Shoe-Conductor Rail Interaction Dynamics

by

Like Pan

¹,

Tong Xing

¹,

Wenrui Dai

^1,*,

Yan Xu

² and

Weidong Zhu

³

¹

China Academy of Railway Sciences Co., Ltd., Beijing 100081, China

²

Faculty of Transportation Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China

³

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Machines 2026, 14(5), 475; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14050475

Submission received: 19 March 2026 / Revised: 22 April 2026 / Accepted: 22 April 2026 / Published: 24 April 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mastering Vibrations: The Latest Breakthroughs in Control for Mechanical Systems)

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Abstract

The dynamic characteristics of the collector shoe–conductor rail interaction directly affect the operational performance of metro systems. Although irregularities exist in both the track and the conductor rail, their relative influence on interaction dynamics has not been comprehensively compared. This study develops a coupled train–track–shoe–rail dynamic model to investigate these effects. Specifically, the conductor rail is modeled using a localized approach based on the Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. This is integrated with a multibody collector shoe model and an existing train–track interaction model to form a comprehensive simulation framework. After validating the model, the impacts of track irregularity, conductor rail irregularity, and support spacing are analyzed and compared. The results demonstrate that while conductor rail irregularity is the primary driver of contact loss, standard track irregularity can also account for approximately 10% of the dynamic response variation. Consequently, both factors must be integrated into future studies of collector shoe–conductor rail dynamics.

Keywords: collector shoe–conductor rail interaction; train-track interaction; irregularity; arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian method

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MDPI and ACS Style

Pan, L.; Xing, T.; Dai, W.; Xu, Y.; Zhu, W. A Comparative Study on the Influence of Track and Conductor Rail Irregularity on Collector Shoe-Conductor Rail Interaction Dynamics. Machines 2026, 14, 475. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14050475

AMA Style

Pan L, Xing T, Dai W, Xu Y, Zhu W. A Comparative Study on the Influence of Track and Conductor Rail Irregularity on Collector Shoe-Conductor Rail Interaction Dynamics. Machines. 2026; 14(5):475. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14050475

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pan, Like, Tong Xing, Wenrui Dai, Yan Xu, and Weidong Zhu. 2026. "A Comparative Study on the Influence of Track and Conductor Rail Irregularity on Collector Shoe-Conductor Rail Interaction Dynamics" Machines 14, no. 5: 475. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14050475

APA Style

Pan, L., Xing, T., Dai, W., Xu, Y., & Zhu, W. (2026). A Comparative Study on the Influence of Track and Conductor Rail Irregularity on Collector Shoe-Conductor Rail Interaction Dynamics. Machines, 14(5), 475. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14050475

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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A Comparative Study on the Influence of Track and Conductor Rail Irregularity on Collector Shoe-Conductor Rail Interaction Dynamics

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