Development of a model for the simultaneous analysis of wheel and rail wear in railway systems

The prediction of wheel and rail wear is a fundamental issue in the railway field, both in terms of vehicle stability and in terms of economic costs (planning of maintenance interventions). In particular the need of an accurate wear model arises from the interest of Trenitalia S.p.A. and Rete Ferroviara Italiana in designing new wheel and rail profiles and new bogie architectures optimized from the wear viewpoint with the aim of improving the wear and stability behavior of the standard ORE S1002 wheel profile matched with the UIC60 rail profile canted at 1/20 rad (which represents the wheel–rail combination adopted by the Italian railway line). In this work the authors present a wear model specifically developed for the evaluation of the wheel and rail profile evolution, the layout of which is made up of two mutually interactive but separate units: a vehicle model for the dynamical analysis and a model for the wear evaluation. Subsequently the new model has been compared with the wear evaluation procedure implemented in Simpack, a widely tested and validated multibody software for the analysis of the railway vehicle dynamics; the comparison aims both to evaluate the model performance (in terms of accuracy and efficiency) and to further validate the wear model (just tested, as regards the wheel wear prediction, in previous works related to the critical Aosta–Pre Saint Didier line). The comparison has been carried out considering a benchmark train composed by a locomotive (E.464) and a passenger vehicle (Vivalto) provided by Trenitalia while the simulations have been performed on a mean Italian railway line (obtained by means of a statistical analysis of the data relative to the whole Italian railway network provided by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI)).     

Railway multibody simulation with the knife-edge-equivalent wheel–rail constraint equations

This paper describes a new numerical procedure for the modelling and simulation of the wheel–rail contact in railway dynamic simulations. The method is called knife-edge-equivalent contact constraint method, or simply KEC-method. Using this method, the wheel–rail contact is modelled as rigid or constraint-based using a set of kinematic constraints that eliminates one-degree of freedom of relative wheel–rail motion. The KEC-method uses a transformed but equivalent wheel profile in contact with a single-point rail. This equivalent profile has the property of producing the same wheelset-rail relative kinematics as the real wheel–rail profiles. The method can be used efficiently online while achieving better computational times than using contact lookup tables. Compared with existing constraint methods, the KEC-method has the following advantages: (1) simplification of the wheel–rail contact constraints, (2) simplified wheel–rail profiles, (3) online solution of the contact constraints, (4) reduction of the number of surface parameters, and (5) increased computational efficiency. A comparative study with respect to the use of efficient contact lookup tables in the simulation of Metro de Sevilla (metropolitan train in the city of Sevilla) shows that this contact method is appropriate to simulate the dynamics of a railway vehicle efficiently.

     

Synergetic control of asynchronous electric traction drives of locomotives

The problem of synthesis of the control system of locomotive asynchronous electric traction drives with regard to processes in the wheel-rail contact. In this system, the wheels can slip relative to the rail, and the excessive slippage has a negative effect on the locomotive traction properties and increases the wear of the wheel pair and rail surface. Modern techniques of solving this problem are based on the forced increase of the coefficient of traction in the wheel-rail contact and on tracking the acceleration of the wage wheels rotation rate as the wheel slip development is evaluated. A new approach to the synthesis of locomotive traction controllers is proposed that is based on the theory of synergetic control. The proposed traction controller ensures a prescribed slip rate of the wage wheels relative to the rail thus ensuring the maximum traction; furthermore, this controller minimizes the loss of energy in the power unit of the electric traction drive.     

A numerical method for prediction of curved rail wear

Important published papers on rail wear in the past were reviewed. A numerical method was put forward to predict curved rail wear during a railway vehicle curving. The numerical method was discussed in detail. It considered a combination of Kalker’s non-Hertzian rolling contact theory, rail material wear model, the coupling dynamics of the vehicle and track, and the three-dimensional contact geometry analysis of wheel-rail. In its numerical implementation, the dynamical parameters of all the parts of the vehicle and track, such as normal loads and creepages of the wheels and rails, were firstly obtained through the curving dynamics analysis. The wheel-rail contact geometry calculation gave the wheel-rail contact geometry parameters, which were used in the wheel-rail rolling contact calculation with Kalker’s non-Hertzian rolling contact theory modified. The friction work densities on the contact areas of the wheels and rails were obtained in the rolling contact calculation, and were used to predict the rail running surface wears caused by the multiple wheels of the vehicle simultaneously with the rail material wear model. In the rail material wear model, it was assumed that the mass loss of each unit area was proportional to the frictional work density in the contact area. A numerical example was present to verify the present method. The numerical results of the example are reasonable, and indicate that the high rail wear of the curved track caused by the leading wheelset is much more serious than those caused by the other three wheels of the same bogie.     

A study on wear evaluation of railway wheels based on multibody dynamics and wear computation

The wear evolution of railway wheels is a very important issue in railway engineering. In the past, the reprofiling intervals of railway vehicle steel wheels have been scheduled according to designers’ experience. Today, more reliable and accurate tools in predicting wheel wear evolution and wheelset lifetime can be used in order to achieve economical and safety benefits. In this work, a computational tool that is able to predict the evolution of the wheel profiles for a given railway system, as a function of the distance run, is presented. The strategy adopted consists of using a commercial multibody software to study the railway dynamic problem and a purpose-built code for managing its pre- and post-processing data in order to compute the wear. The tool is applied here to realistic operation scenarios in order to assess the effect of some service conditions on the wheel wear progression.     

Influence of track conditions and wheel wear state on the loads imposed on the infrastructure by railway vehicles

Nowadays, one of the most sensible issues in the railway industry is the damage on vehicles caused by the track conditions and the infrastructure deterioration due to the trains’ passage. Therefore, it is essential to acquire a better understanding on how the operation conditions influence the wear evolution of the railway wheels and the consequences of their changing profiles on vehicle–track interaction forces. In this work, a computational tool is used to simulate the dynamic performance of integrated railway systems and to predict the wear evolution of wheel profiles. The tool is applied to realistic operational scenarios with the purpose to evaluate the influence of the track conditions, defined by the track geometry and by its irregularities, on the wear progression of railway wheels. The loads imposed to the railway infrastructure by a trainset running at different velocities, on a track with and without irregularities, and equipped with wheelsets having new and worn profiles is also studied. The studies performed here show that the levels of track irregularities considered have a negligible influence on the wear progression. Furthermore, the loads imposed to the track during trainset operation are not affected by the wear state of the wheels. On the other hand, the track imperfections can affect significantly the vehicle–track interaction forces.     

Determination of wheel–rail contact points with semianalytic methods

The multibody simulation of railway vehicle dynamics needs a reliable and efficient method to determine the location of the contact points between wheel and rail that represent the application points of the contact forces and influence their directions and intensities. In this work, two semi-analytic procedures for the detection of the wheel–rail contact points (named the DIST and the DIFF methods) are presented. Both the methods consider the wheel and the rail as two surfaces whose analytic expressions are known. The first method is based on the idea that the contact points are located in the point in which the distance between the contact surfaces has local maxima, and is equivalent to solve an algebraic 4D-system. The second method is based on the idea that in the contact points the difference between the surfaces has local minima and is equivalent to solve an algebraic 2D-system. In both cases, the original problem can be reduced analytically to a simple 1D-problem that can be easily solved numerically.     

长春轻轨3号线钢轨轨底坡对列车车轮磨耗的影响

摘要： 为探究小半径曲线钢轨轨底坡对车轮磨耗的影响规律,建立长春市轻轨3号线70%低地板轻轨列车车轮磨耗预测分析模型,包括独立旋转轮对的车辆 轨道耦合动力学计算模型、轮轨接触模型和Archard材料磨耗模型,并采用这些模型分析轻轨列车通过小半径曲线轨道时轨底坡对车轮磨耗的影响。分析结果表明：轻轨列车通过小半径曲线轨道时,动车轮对的磨耗程度比拖车轮对更严重,动车轮对总磨耗量为拖车轮对总磨耗量的159%;从轮对自身来看,内侧车轮的磨耗均比外侧车轮的磨耗严重,内侧车轮总磨耗量为外侧车轮总磨耗量的165%;钢轨轨底坡对车轮磨耗的影响显著,车轮踏面最大磨耗量出现位置随轨底坡变化的规律较为复杂,车轮轮缘磨耗量在轨底坡为1/20时最小。     

基于梯度提升决策树的车轮轮缘厚度磨耗预测

轮对在列车走行过程中起着导向、承受以及传递载荷的作用，其踏面及轮缘磨耗对地铁列车运行安全性和钢轨的寿命都将产生重要影响。根据地铁列车车轮磨耗机理，分析车轮尺寸数据特点，针对轮缘厚度这一型面参数，基于梯度提升决策树算法构建轮缘厚度磨耗预测模型。在该模型的基础上，任意选取某轮对数据进行验证分析，结果表明：基于梯度提升决策树的轮对磨耗预测模型具有较好的预测精度，可预测出1~6个月的轮缘厚度变化趋势范围，预测时间范围较长，可为地铁维保部门对轮对的维修方式由状态修转为预防修提供指导性建议。     

轻轨线路曲线半径对车轮磨耗的影响

为分析线路曲线半径对轻轨列车车轮磨耗的影响,以长春市轻轨3号线70％低地板轻轨列车车轮为研究对象,建立独立旋转轮对的轻轨车辆-轨道耦合动力学计算模型、轮轨接触模型和Archard材料磨耗模型,对轻轨列车车轮磨耗进行仿真分析.计算结果表明:轻轨列车通过半径为50 m的曲线时,圆曲线上的车轮磨耗比缓和曲线更严重,整体轮对比独立轮对磨耗更严重;曲线半径大于150 m时,内、外侧车轮磨耗随着曲线半径增大而减小,并且在曲线半径相同的条件下,独立轮对各车轮磨耗量均比整体轮对各车轮磨耗量约大2 ～3 mm;随着列车行驶里程的增加,车轮磨耗率有先增大后减小的变化趋势,即可以将车轮磨耗分为快速磨耗和稳定磨耗2个阶段.轻轨车辆外侧车轮的磨耗率大于内侧车轮,说明车轮磨耗主要发生在外侧车轮.     

Freight car models and their computer-aided dynamic analysis

Computer models of freight cars with three-piece and Y25 bogies are considered and compared. Efficient numeric methods for simulation of vehicle models in the presence of frictional contacts are discussed. Some simulation results on derailment safety analysis and influence of track gauge value on freight-car dynamics are presented. Methods of stress loading and durability analysis based on computer simulation and some results are presented. A tribodynamic model of railway vehicle-track interaction and results of computation of wheel and rail profile wear are discussed.     

车轮与高速道岔翼轨的接触分析

为合理设计道岔,更好地匹配轮对和道岔型面,用有限元法求解车轮与高速道岔翼轨的接触问题.建立4种不同型面车轮与高速道岔翼轨接触的有限元模型,分析车轮通过高速道岔翼轨的轮岔接触斑和等效应力的变化规律,计算结果表明:机车车轮与翼轨的接触斑位于翼轨轨顸外侧,动车车轮与翼轨接触的接触斑位置在翼轨轨顶中部;磨耗后JM3型面车轮与翼轨接触时,容易出现应力集中,尤其是在距离心轨尖端50 cm位置处;磨耗后JM3型面车轮与翼轨接触产生的等效应力最大.     

NDE system for railway wheel inspection in a standard FPGA

A special NDE system built into a low-cost FPGA has been developed for detecting railway wheelflats. The system operates with the train moving at low-speed over a measuring rail. Ultrasonic surface wave pulses are sent at regular intervals and echoes are acquired and processed by the system. The variations in the round trip time-of-flight (RTOF) of the ultrasonic pulse allow to detect and quantify the flats size.The logic design optimizes the storage capabilities by keeping only the rail–wheel contact echo and its environment. For this purpose, a wheel tracking algorithm has been implemented. It allows reducing the data volume by controlling the delay time from pulse emission to the acquisition window following the running wheel. Furthermore, since signals are masked by the rail structural noise, they are processed before executing the tracking algorithm. This work presents the architecture and performance of the developed system with experimental data.     

A full-scale roller-rig for railway vehicles: multibody modelling and Hardware In the Loop architecture

In this paper an innovative Hardware In the Loop (HIL) architecture to test braking onboard subsystems on full-scale roller-rigs is described. The new approach allows reproducing on the roller-rig a generic wheel–rail adhesion pattern (especially degraded adhesion conditions) without sliding and, consequently, wear between the roller and wheel surfaces. The presented strategy is also adopted by the innovative full-scale roller-rig of the Railway Research and Approval Center of Firenze-Osmannoro (Italy); the new roller-rig has been built by Trenitalia S.p.A. and is owned by SIMPRO S.p.A. At this initial phase of the research activity, to effectively validate the proposed approach, a complete multibody model of the HIL system has been developed. The numerical model is based on the real characteristics of the components provided by Trenitalia and makes use of an innovative wheel–roller contact model. The results coming from the simulation model have been compared to the experimental data provided by Trenitalia and relative to on-track tests performed in Velim, Czech Republic, with a UIC-Z1 coach equipped with a fully-working WSP system. The preliminary validation performed with the HIL model highlights the good performance of the HIL strategy in reproducing on the roller-rig the complex interaction between degraded adhesion conditions and railway vehicle dynamics during the braking manoeuvre.     

上海地铁车辆统型车轮疲劳强度分析

为分析上海地铁车辆统型车轮的疲劳强度,建立上海地铁车辆统型车轮和上海地铁11号线车轮的有限元模型,依据国际铁路联盟的UIC标准以及欧洲的EN标准模拟车轮在直线、曲线和道岔等工况下的应力;分析车轮疲劳强度的计算方法,并依据Haigh图评估分析这2种车轮的疲劳强度.结果表明,2种车轮均具有良好的静强度和疲劳强度性能,都能满...     

Effect of tangent track buckle on vehicle derailment

In order to investigate the effect of a tangent track buckle on the dynamic derailment of a railway vehicle, a coupled vehicle/track dynamics model is developed, in which the vehicle is modeled as a 35 D.O.F. multibody system and the track is modeled as a 3-layer discrete elastic support model. Rails are assumed to be Timoshenko beams supported by discrete sleepers, and the effects of vertical and lateral motions and rolling of the rail on the wheel/rail creepages are taken into account. The sleepers are treated as Euler beams on elastic foundation for the vertical vibration, while as lumped masses in the lateral direction. A moving sleeper support model is developed to simulate the effect of the periodical discrete sleepers on the vehicle/track interaction. The vehicle and the track are coupled by wheel/rail contacts whereas the normal forces and the creep forces are calculated using the Hertzian contact theory and the nonlinear creep theory by Shen et al., respectively. The equations of motion of the coupled vehicle/track system are solved by means of an explicit integration method. A tangent track buckle is simulated with a cosine function, which describes the misalignment of the track with different lengths due to its buckling. In the analysis the effects of the buckle wavelength and amplitude and of the vehicle speed on the dynamic behavior of the coupled vehicle/track system are considered. The present paper analyzes in detail the conventional derailment coefficients which include the ratio of the wheel/rail lateral force to the vertical force, the wheel load reduction, and the new criteria indicating the wheel/rail contact point traces and the wheel rise with respect to the rail. These criteria are simultaneously used to evaluate the risk of derailment of the whole vehicle. The numerical results obtained indicate that the track misalignment caused by the buckle and the vehicle speed have a great influence on the whole vehicle running safety when the vehicle passes through the buckled tangent track.     

基于Gocator视觉传感器的轨头参数计算

轮轨间紧密接触使轨头轮廓产生不规则变化,传统钢轨检测方法主要测量钢轨的垂直磨耗和水平磨耗,不能全面反映钢轨横截面的轮廓信息。基于Gocator视觉传感器采集、拼接得到的完整轨头轮廓数据及标准钢轨轨头轮廓曲线解析式,提出计算轨头剩余面积、轨头45°角磨耗和轨头角度参数的计算方法。该方法通过传感器拼接得到的离散点数据,采用优化分段三次的拟合方法进行多项式拟合,依次对多项式积分得到整个轨头剩余面积;通过轨头45°角所在直线与测量轮廓的交点计算其磨耗;通过计算轨头圆弧相交点处切线斜率得到轨头角度。实验数据表明,在钢轨同一截面计算得到的参数误差小,精度高,计算速度快,这些参数的有效测量值为钢轨自动化打磨维护提供指导意义。     

Metamodelling of wheel–rail normal contact in railway crossings with elasto-plastic material behaviour

A metamodel considering material plasticity is presented for computationally efficient prediction of wheel–rail normal contact in railway switches and crossings (S&C). The metamodel is inspired by the contact theory of Hertz, and for a given material, it computes the size of the contact patch and the maximum contact pressure as a function of the normal force and the local curvatures of the bodies in contact. The model is calibrated based on finite element (FE) simulations with an elasto-plastic material model and is demonstrated for rail steel grade R350HT. The error of simplifying the contact geometry is discussed and quantified. For a moderate difference in contact curvature between wheel and rail, the metamodel is able to accurately predict the size of the contact patch and the maximum contact pressure. The accuracy is worse when there is a small difference in contact curvature, where the influence of variation in curvature within the contact patch becomes more significant. However, it is shown that such conditions lead to contact stresses that contribute less to accumulated plastic deformation. The metamodel allows for a vast reduction of computational effort compared to the original FE model as it is given in analytical form.

     

一种火车轮轨相对垂向位移视频检测系统

机车轮轨之间的相对位移是轮轨接触状态最直接的反映,为了监测列车运行的状态 及完善运行安全性机理,传统方法是采用基于传感器的接触式测量。针对其存在动态测量困难、 零漂大和抗干扰能力差等缺点,设计了一种火车轮轨相对垂向位移视频检测系统。该系统将相机 垂直安装在转向架上,激光源也安装在转向架上并使激光照到轨道上,利用相机、激光源和转向 架三者保持相对静止的特点,通过激光点在轨道图像中的纵坐标变化来测量轮轨的相对垂直位 移。最后,在无砟和有砟轨道两种不同条件下实现了机车轮轨相对垂向位移检测、数据显示和存 储。实验结果表明,该系统不仅能显示轮轨相对垂向位移,而且对检测环境有较强的适应性,这 对进一步探索和评价机车运行安全性机理有着重要的意义。