| Title |
Development and Cleaning Performance Evaluation of an Automated Insulator Cleaning System for Rigid Overhead Conductors (T-bar) in Underground Tunnel Sections |
| Authors |
박철민(Chulmin Park) ; 이기원(Kiwon Lee) ; 손상진(Sangjin Son) ; 김용석(Yongseok Kim) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5370/KIEE.2026.75.9.2254 |
| Keywords |
rigid overhead conductor (T-bar); insulator; automated cleaning; contamination removal; traction power supply reliability |
| Abstract |
Insulators mounted on rigid overhead conductors (T-bar) in underground urban-railway tunnels are continuously exposed to metallic particulate matter from the wheel?rail?brake interface and arc discharge at the catenary?collector interface, forming a conductive contamination layer that can degrade insulation performance. Domestic operators currently manage this contamination by periodic manual cleaning, which is slow, hazardous to workers, and limited in effectiveness. This study developed an unmanned automated cleaning system for such insulators. It comprises position detection and tracking that follows the conductor's stagger and height, active uplift-force control that maintains a constant uplift force at the cleaning head, a high-pressure water-jet cleaning module, a compressed-air drying module, a wastewater recovery and purification unit, and remote monitoring and control. In field demonstrations on an underground revenue line of Seoul Metro, the mean accumulated-dust mass per unit length on the insulator surface decreased from 11.7 g/m to 0.527 g/m, an average removal rate of 95.5% verified by an accredited testing institution. Compressed-air drying followed by natural drying reached about 99% dryness within two hours, and the cleaning distance reached 5.1 km per hour. By combining stagger tracking with active uplift-force control, the system enables unmanned removal of the conductive contamination layer and safer maintenance. |