The creative solution to improve the locomotive traction and efficiency

Abstract

The interaction of wheel and rail is the physical basis of train movement on the railroad. It largely determines the safety, speed and level of operating costs. At the same time, the requirements for indicators of interaction between wheels and rails in different contact zones are contradictory. On the one hand, the traction of wheels and rails should be such that low train resistance is ensured. On the other hand - to realize the necessary traction force it is necessary to ensure a high and stable level of traction of locomotive wheels with the rail surface. 
 The work set a goal – to research methods of improving the traction and braking qualities of the locomotive, and to identify the most effective of them. To develop a design which allows increasing traction and braking qualities of a locomotive and providing increasing of ecological safety with application of energy- and resource-saving technologies. As a result an analysis of scientific and technical information sources was carried out which testifies to the existence of different methods of increasing traction and braking qualities of locomotives: structural and operational.
 On the basis of the performed analysis of designs of sand systems used it is established that manual and pneumatic systems were used in the process of locomotives operation, their significant disadvantages and advantages are studied.
 In order to achieve the optimum sand flow rate, preliminary studies on electrostatic and tribostatic sand electrification were carried out, which gave positive results. Both methods are approximately equal in scale of application, the advantages and disadvantages of each of them were studied in detail.
 On the basis of the carried out theoretical and preliminary experimental works a creative solution to improve the design of the resource-saving sand system of the locomotive, modernized on the basis of the tribostatic method of sand charging is developed.
 The developed design allows for the supply of sand directly to the wheel raceway along the rail, which will significantly reduce its consumption, reduce the adverse impact of ground sand on the environment and increase the traction force of the locomotive, by increasing the coefficient of adhesion of the wheel to the rail, which contributes to the improvement of technical and economic indicators locomotive as a whole.