Fault Diagnosis of Wheel Flat Using Empirical Mode Decomposition-Hilbert Envelope Spectrum

Abstract

We establish the Injury Model of Wheel Flats with 10 degrees of freedom and calculate the dynamic responses of the railway vehicle system, which include different vehicle speeds and different length flats. The Hilbert envelope spectrum method based on Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) is proposed according to the nonstationary characteristics of axle box acceleration (ABA) signal. The vibration characteristics of the ABA are studied thoroughly. And then the effects concerning speed and flat length on the diagnosis results are analyzed. The simulation results show the amplitude corresponding to the frequency component of wheel flats raise with the increasing of the wheel flat length when the single or double wheel flats impact the track at the same vehicle speed. In other words, the longer the wheel flat is, the greater the magnitude of the decomposition result is. In the same vehicle speed, the amplitude corresponding to the frequency component of wheel flat is minimum when the two flats’ phase difference is 180°. With the same flat length (single or double wheel flats), the amplitude corresponding to the frequency components of wheel flats decreases with the increasing of the speed. This method could accurately and effectively identify the frequency of wheel flats.