This book has evolved from the lecture series "Elektrische Bahnen" ("Electric railways")
which has been held at Ruhr-Universität Bochum since 1996. Its primary audience are
students of electrical energy technologies, control engineering and mechanical engineering as
well as young engineers of electrical engineering, especially in the fields of power
electronics, in railway industry and in railway-operating companies.
The book intends to convey mechanical fundamentals of electric railway propulsion, which
includes rail-bound guidance, transmission of traction effort from wheel to rail under the
influence of non-constant levels of adhesion and the transmission of motor torque to a springmounted and thus sliding drive set.
The focal point of the book will be the disposition of electric traction units powered by
three-phase induction motors. We shall discuss the stationary and dynamical behaviour of the
squirrel-cage induction motor and the principle and construction features of pulse-controlled
inverters, as well as scalar and field-oriented control systems and four-quadrant power
converters, feeding the DC link of the inverters.
