Verification Test of Energy-Efficient Driving by Selection of Braking Notches

Energy-efficient driving from selecting of braking notches based on the characteristics of a regenerative brake is efficient at decreasing the energy consumption over the same running time. For example, a weak brake increases not only the powering energy but also the regenerative energy because it reduces mechanical brake loss. We calculated energy-efficient driving by a running simulation. We verified the proposed energy-efficient driving by performing a verification test. In this paper we report on the analysis results for the verification test on energy-efficient driving based on selecting braking notches with a focus on energy loss. We obtained the running test results under two conditions: the regenerative brake is not limited by non-negligible regenerative loads with other trains and regenerative energy absorbing equipment and the regenerative brake is limited by light regenerative loads with regenerative energy absorbing equipment. We determined the breakdown of energy consumption for each result with a focus on energy loss. Based on the analysis results, we determined the mechanical brake loss that corresponds to the regenerative brake characteristic of energy-efficient driving.