A long-term tracking test of high-speed train with wheel polygonal wear

Abstract

A long-term tracking test was performed on a newly designed high-speed train with the nominal speed of 250 km/h. The wheel roughness and structural vibration were both recorded during two re-profiling cycles. The 3rd order polygonal wear was observed in the early stage. The vibration of the axlebox can be aggravated even at lower speed when the passing frequency of polygonal wear approaches the P2 resonance frequency. Subsequently, the 22nd–25th and 14th–15th order developed. The trend analysis suggests that the development of high-order polygonal wear is exponential-like. Moreover, a localised decline is explored during the development progress due to the change of route, which indicates the polygonal wear can be suppressed by reducing the proportion of constant-speed operation. It is also found that the acceleration amplitude of 550–650 Hz shows the most remarkable rise with the mileage, following the 300–400 Hz. However, there is a slight difference of characteristic frequency between the initially dominant peak and the finally developed order. The high-frequency vibration induced by high-order polygonal wear can be noticed on the entire vehicle, and it transmits between the adjacent wheels through the rail.