Abstract
The paper is created within a project which aims to design a system of active wheelset steering for an electric four-axle locomotive. The wheelset steering system enables reduction in forces acting in the wheel-rail contacts in a curved track and consequently a reduction in wear and maintenance costs of both vehicles and rails is achieved. The project consists of three main parts: computer simulations, scaled roller rig experiments, and field tests. The paper is focused on the fundamental aspects of the first and the second part on the project. Track curvature estimation based on the rotation of the bogies towards the car body is proposed and assessed by computer simulations across varying track radiuses, vehicle speeds, and friction conditions. The scaled roller rig has been innovated in order to simulate bogie run in a curved track with uncompensated value of lateral acceleration and instrumented with a system of measurement of lateral wheel-rail forces. The experimental bogie has been equipped with systems of active wheelset steering and measurement of axle-box forces. The experiment setup, newly developed and applied systems of forces measurement and wireless signal transmission, and results of the first experiments are described in detail. Performed computer simulations and scaled roller rig experiments show that active wheelset steering is effective and practically implementable method of reducing guiding forces acting between railway vehicle wheels and rails in a curved track.
Highlights
Force interaction in between rails and railway wheels is one of the most important issues in the development of the new rolling stock
The most significant benefit of active wheelset steering is in terms of the absolute magnitude of the decrease in guiding forces is in tight curves of a small radius
Summary Computer simulations show that active wheelset steering is a very promising, pracvalue
Summary
Force interaction in between rails and railway wheels is one of the most important issues in the development of the new rolling stock. Conventional methods of reduction in guiding forces are based on the optimization of suspension characteristics [4], or on mechanic or hydraulic linkages between the various components of the running gear. Contribution of mechanical bogie connections MBC1 and MBC2 to the guiding force reduction will be lower than calculated values of 23 percent for MBC1, respectively 10.5 percent for MBC2. To avoid undesired large deflections of secondary suspension in the lateral direction and transmitting forces via lateral bump-stops, the power of the actuators would probably have to be lower than considered in the simulation. The highest reduction in guiding forces (75%) shows YFS Such reduction is achieved for zero value of the yaw stiffness of the wheelset guidance which drastically affect the stability and lower the maximum speed of the vehicle. The Stage III includes implementation of AWS system on an existing locomotive and performing track tests
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