Ice accretion on railway contact wires degrades the current collection performance of the pantograph-catenary system and may further trigger operational failures such as arcing

ice-induced galloping

and wire breakage. Existing studies on contact wires icing are often constrained by simplified modeling assumptions or insufficient experimental validation

and the growth process of ice accretion has yet to be adequately characterized. For the purpose of clarifying the ice accretion growth behavior of railway contact wires

a numerical simulation model is developed based on the Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the Bourgault thermodynamic icing theory. A boundary updating and mesh reconstruction technique is employed

and a stage-based time-stepping strategy is introduced for improving both numerical stability and prediction accuracy. The proposed model is validated through experiments conducted in a multifunctional artificial climate laboratory. The results demonstrate the influence of the non-circular cross-sectional geometry of contact wires on the evolution of ice accretion

and systematic comparisons are performed with conventional circular conductors to elucidate their differences in icing characteristics. In addition

the effects of wind speed

ambient temperature

liquid water content (LWC)

and median volume diameter (MVD) on ice shape development and accreted ice mass are investigated. The proposed model provides a robust numerical framework for studying icing mechanisms on railway contact wires and offers practical guidance for the design of railway anti-icing and ice-mitigation strategies.