Study on Induced Voltage and Circulation Current of Metal Layer in Single-Core Cable of High-Speed Railway Power Transmission Line

The metal shield and metal armor layers of single-core cables on high-speed railroad power penetration lines are usually grounded by common equipment protectors. This grounding method brings a continuous circulating current between the metal shield and metal armor layer compared to the subequipment protection grounding. In order to quantitatively study the circulating current condition of the through line and its influence on the reliability of the railroad power through line, the induced electric potential and circulating current generation mechanism of the single-core cable of the through line and its influencing factors were firstly analyzed in depth. Then, based on the cross-sectional structure of the single-core cable and the location of the traction network and cable in the roadbed section, a traction power supply model was established and simulated for the interlayer-induced potentials and circulating currents due to the two grounding protection methods under no load, single train operation, and heavy load four-train operation of the line. Finally, three actual sections of the Shanghai–Kunming and Nan–Kunming high-speed railroads in China were selected to collect and analyze the loop flow data with no load and with vehicles passing through, and finally the loop flow law of single-core cable for railroad electric through traffic was derived. The analysis shows that when the metal sheath of a single-core cable is grounded by ordinary equipment, the circulating current generated does not exceed 1% of the core current, which meets the relevant safety standards, but the induced voltage in the case of large loads will exceed 50 V safety voltage.