Abstract
Conicity is an important characteristic that helps the railway vehicle to steer itself down the track. However during the operation, the conicity tends to change inconsistently due to frictional contact at the wheel-rail interface. Safety, reliability and ride comfort which are utmost importance for journey are adversely affected due to the changes in conicity level beyond certain limit. Several techniques have been employed for monitoring the health of the railway wheelset however still a significant potential exists to investigate the wheelset conicity. This paper presents a model based technique to monitor the wheelset condition which contributes to the wheel flats due to decrease in conicity level and the problem of false flanges due to increased level of conicity. In this paper an unconstrained solid axle railway wheelset is considered for study. The dynamic behavior of the wheelset is analyzed at different conicity levels to understand the effect of the conicity on the wheelset. In order to demonstrate the potential of this research work a simulation model is developed in Matlab/ Simulink to mimic the behavior of an actual wheelset. Simplified linearized model of the wheelset is used to estimate the dynamics of the wheelset. From the simulation results it is evident that the frequency of vibration is changing with the changes in conicity level. In this way using the proposed method the conicity level is indirectly identified. The results produced by simulation model are satisfactory.
Highlights
The railway wheelset is a vital element in railway transport because it provides the traction and body suspension and steers the vehicle down the track
The simulation model is based on unconstrained wheelset resulting in lateral acceleration by the wheelset
Plenty of research work is being carried out to resolve the issues related to maintenance of the railway wheelset
Summary
The railway wheelset is a vital element in railway transport because it provides the traction and body suspension and steers the vehicle down the track. The tread of the railway wheelset is conical and both the wheels are rigidly fixed on a common axle. Both rigidly fixed structure of the railway wheelset and the conical wheel tread provide the natural steering ability on straight and curved tracks. If the wheelset is laterally displaced to left or right the difference in rolling radii is created. Both the wheels have the same rotational velocity because both are rigidly fixed to common axle [1].
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