SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO THE METHODS OF INCREASING THE LIFE CYCLE OF WHEELS OF RAILWAY VEHICLES

The value of the life cycle of rolling stock wheels is determined by the frequency of maintenance, in the process of which the turning is carried out to restore the profiles of the rolling surfaces, or the replacement of completely worn wheels. Traffic safety depends on the technical condition of the wheels of locomotives and wagons. Maintenance and repair of wheelsets accounts for about 30% of all costs of Ukrzaliznytsia's rolling stock repair units. Wheel repair technologies are based on the complete restoration of wheel profiles by turning, using which, their life cycle is reduced, and costs increase by 20% or more. The railways of Ukraine use an outdated, unreasonable, inefficient system of control over the formation of rolling surfaces in operation. Therefore, there is a need to create a scientifically sound approach to methods of extending the life cycle of the wheels of locomotives and wagons while ensuring the safety of railway rolling stock. According to the proposed scientific approach, the wheel profile is restored to optimal parameters, which provides an extended life cycle of wheelsets. As a result of the developed scientific approach the life cycle of wheel pairs will increase by 15… 25% and the expenses of the railway for their repair will considerably decrease.

Wheel profile optimization procedure to minimize flange wear considering profile wear evolution

This study aims to develop a wheel profile optimization procedure to minimize flange wear considering the wear evolution. To this end, the wheel wear simulation capability is integrated into the profile optimization framework such that a total material loss can be minimized under design constraints. This allows for the wear reduction to be maintained over an extended traveling distance, while an optimized profile, minimizing the frictional energy for only the initial profile, would not ensure the optimum performance after the profile wear becomes significant. Furthermore, to enable a balanced mitigation of the profile wear and surface damage, the damage index model is introduced to the weighted objective function, considering profile wear evolution. Using flange wear tests with a scaled roller test rig, wear reduction of the optimized profile is experimentally validated. The wear simulation results agree with the test data. It is demonstrated that the flange wear and tread surface damages are reduced simultaneously over an extended traveling distance using the profile optimization procedure developed in this study.

Assessing Wear Evolutions in Railway Wheelsets Using a Survival Modeling Approach

The present paper provides a method to predict maintenance needs for the railway wheelsets by modeling the wear out affecting the wheelsets during its life cycle using survival analysis. Wear variations of wheel profiles are discretized and modelled through a censored survival approach, which is appropriate for modeling wheel profile degradation using real operation data from the condition monitoring systems that currently exist in railway companies. Several parametric distributions for the wear variations are modeled and the behavior of the selected ones is analyzed and compared with wear trajectories computed by a Monte Carlo simulation procedure. This procedure aims to test the independence of events by adding small fractions of wear to reach larger wear values. The results show that the independence of wear events is not true for all the established events, but it is confirmed for small wear values. Overall, the proposed framework is developed in such a way that the outputs can be used to support predictions in condition-based maintenance models and to optimize the maintenance of wheelsets.

Influence of Wheel Profile Wear Coupled with Wheel Diameter Difference on the Dynamic Performance of Subway Vehicles

In view of the coexistence of wheel profile wear (WPW) and wheel diameter difference (WDD) on an actual subway line, a dynamic analysis method based on coupling between WPW and equivalent in-phase WDD was proposed. Based on the measurements from a subway vehicle in operation on this line, dynamics modeling and calculations were performed for a single carriage of this vehicle. Later, the interaction between the effects of WPW and equivalent in-phase WDD on the vehicle dynamic performance was analyzed, and the dynamic response in the presence of coupled damage was compared between the outer and inner wheels. Furthermore, the difference in the dynamic response caused by different positions of the larger-diameter wheels (i.e., on the inner track or outer track) was analyzed for the case where equivalent in-phase WDD occurred between the front and rear bogies. The results show that when the vehicle ran on a straight line, the coupling between WPW and WDD reduced the vehicle’s stability but improved its ride comfort. When the vehicle traveled on a curved line, it showed reductions in the lateral wheel/rail contact force, derailment coefficient, axle lateral force, and wear index if the outer wheels had a larger diameter. As a result, the deterioration of the vehicle’s dynamic performance due to the increasing degree of WPW slowed down, and its curve negotiation performance improved. Meanwhile, the outer wheels had significantly greater lateral wheel/rail contact force, derailment coefficient, and wear index compared to the inner wheels. When a −1 mm WDD was coupled with the worn wheel profile for 14 × 104 kilometers traveled, the dynamic performance indexes of the vehicle were close to or even exceeded the corresponding safety limits. The findings can provide technical support for subway vehicle maintenance.

Investigation of low damped carbody oscillation for Korean high-speed EMU experimental train

This study describes the low damped carbody oscillations of the HEMU-430X, a high-speed electric-multiple-unit experimental train of Korea. The HEMU-430X had already undergone a kind of hunting problem in the test period, but it was effectively suppressed through several measures and the test was finished successfully. However, recently, the HEMU-430X again experienced the similar but slightly different problem after its wheel profile was changed to XP55, which is widely used in high-speed trains in Korea. In this paper, the eigenbehavior and system damping ratio are analyzed using a linearized vehicle model to more systematically investigate the cause of the carbody oscillation of the HEMU-430X. The results show that the bogie lateral movement coupled with carbody upper sway has the least damping ratio in the case of the HEMU-430X and the magnitude of yaw directional constraints of the bogie plays an important role in causing the carbody oscillation. Parametric studies for suspension, equivalent conicity and creep coefficients are carried out. A solution is suggested and it is validated using field tests.