Failure of Overhead Line Equipment (OHLE) Structure under Hurricane

Presently, in modern railway systems, train or rolling stocks are powered by electricity through the overhead wire or the third rail on ground. Overhead line equipment (OHLE) is the component for the electric train which provides electric power to the train. OHLE is, for one or two tracks, normally supported by cantilever masts. OHLE is one of vulnerable components in railway system due to its slenderness. Note that, as previously recorded, the strong hurricane caused substantial damage over the large area and possibly knocked the train out of the track and cause electricity failures on OHLE. In fact, cantilever mast subjected to wind and hurricane actions may fail due to the incorrect design, material defects, improper support connections and its foundation etc. In this study, a mast structure with varying rotational soil stiffness is used to construct dynamic influential lines for soil-structure integrity prediction. Finite element model updating technique has been used to perform the dynamic responses of OHLE considering soil-structure interaction of OHLE. The scaled hurricanes at various magnitudes are applied to the OHLE. It is interesting that the support condition plays a significant role in the dynamic responses of OHLE under strong hurricanes. The obtained results demonstrate that the strong hurricane can cause a catastrophic damage to the OHLE which is linked to the failure of electric train. The insight will raise the awareness of engineers for better design of cantilever mast structure and its support condition.