Abstract: The measurement of contact wire wear in electric railways is one of the key test parameters to increase speed and maintain safety in electric railways. Wear caused by continuous interaction between pantographs and contact wires has a negative effect on current collection quality and severely damaged contact wires might cause hazardous accidents. This paper introduces a non-contact optical-based contact wire wear measuring system that will replace conventional wear detecting methods conducted by maintenance vehicles or workers. The system is implemented by high-speed cameras that can collect images of contact wires during vehicle operation, a laser used to create images profile of the contact wire surface, and a computer used to process the collected images. The proposed system is designed to assist maintenance of overhead contact lines by creating geometrically plotted images of contact wires to detect contact wire wear during operation on conventional lines or high-speed lines.
