On the Polygonal Wear Evolution of Heavy-Haul Locomotive Wheels due to Wheel/Rail Flexibility and Its Mitigation Measures

Wheel polygonal wear can immensely worsen wheel/rail interactions and vibration performances of the train and track,and ultimately,lead to the shortening of service life of railway components.At present,wheel/rail medium-or high-frequency frictional interactions are perceived as an essential reason of the high-order polygonal wear of railway wheels,which are potentially resulted by the flexible deformations of the train/track system or other external excitations.In this work,the effect of wheel/rail flexibility on polygonal wear evolution of heavy-haul locomotive wheels is explored with aid of the long-term wheel polygonal wear evolution simulations,in which different flexible modeling of the heavy-haul wheel/rail coupled system is implemented.Further,the mitigation measures for the polygonal wear of heavy-haul locomotive wheels are discussed.The results point out that the evolution of polygonal wear of heavy-haul locomotive wheels can be veritably simulated with consideration of the flexible effect of both wheelset and rails.Execution of mixed-line operation of heavy-haul trains and application of multicut wheel re-profiling can effectively reduce the development of wheel polygonal wear.This research can provide a deep-going understanding of polygonal wear evolution mechanism of heavy-haul locomotive wheels and its mitigation measures.

Research on the strain gauge mounting scheme of track wheel force measurement system based on high-speed wheel/rail relationship test rig

Purpose-This paper aims to analyze the stress and strain distribution on the track wheel web surface and study the optimal strain gauge location for force measurement system of the track wheel.Design/methodology/approach-Finite element method was employed to analyze the stress and strain distribution on the track wheel web surface under varying wheel-rail forces.Locations with minimal coupling interference between vertical and lateral forces were identified as suitable for strain gauge installation.Findings-The results show that due to the track wheel web’s unique curved shape and wheel-rail force loading mechanism,both tensile and compressive states exit on the surface of the web.When vertical force is applied,Mises stress and strain are relatively high near the inner radius of 710 mm and the outer radius of 1110mmof the web.Under lateral force,high Mises stress and strain are observed near the radius of 670mmon the inner and outer sides of the web.As the wheel-rail force application point shifts laterally toward the outer side,the Mises stress and strain near the inner radius of 710 mm of the web gradually decrease under vertical force while gradually increasing near the outer radius of 1110 mm of the web.Under lateral force,the Mises stress and strain on the surface of the web remain relatively unchanged regardless of the wheel-rail force application point.Based on the analysis of stress and strain on the surface of the web under different wheel-rail forces,the inner radius of 870 mm is recommended as the optimal mounting location of strain gauges for measuring vertical force,while the inner radius of 1143 mm is suitable for measuring lateral force.Originality/value-The research findings provide valuable insights for determining optimal strain gauge locations and designing an effective track wheel force measurement system.

A critical review of wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue of railway bogie in China

Purpose–This review aims to give a critical view of the wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue in railway bogie.Design/methodology/approach–Vibration fatigue of railway bogie arising from the wheel/rail high frequency vibration has become the main concern of railway operators.Previous reviews usually focused on the formation mechanism of wheel/rail high frequency vibration.This paper thus gives a critical review of the vibration fatigue of railway bogie owing to the short-pitch irregularities-induced high frequency vibration,including a brief introduction of short-pitch irregularities,associated high frequency vibration in railway bogie,typical vibration fatigue failure cases of railway bogie and methodologies used for the assessment of vibration fatigue and research gaps.Findings–The results showed that the resulting excitation frequencies of short-pitch irregularity vary substantially due to different track types and formation mechanisms.The axle box-mounted components are much more vulnerable to vibration fatigue compared with other components.The wheel polygonal wear and rail corrugation-induced high frequency vibration is the main driving force of fatigue failure,and the fatigue crack usually initiates from the defect of the weld seam.Vibration spectrum for attachments of railway bogie defined in the standard underestimates the vibration level arising from the short-pitch irregularities.The current investigations on vibration fatigue mainly focus on the methods to improve the accuracy of fatigue damage assessment,and a systematical design method for vibration fatigue remains a huge gap to improve the survival probability when the rail vehicle is subjected to vibration fatigue.Originality/value–The research can facilitate the development of a new methodology to improve the fatigue life of railway vehicles when subjected to wheel/rail high frequency vibration.

Influence of the Blade Bifurcated Tip on the Correlation between Wind Turbine Wheel Vibration and Aerodynamic Noise

To reduce the vibration and aerodynamic noise of wind turbines,a new design is proposed relying on a blade with a bifurcated apex or tip.The performances of this wind turbine wheel are tested at the entrance of a DC(direct-action)wind tunnel for different blade tip angles and varying centrifugal force and aerodynamic loads.The test results indicate that the bifurcated apex can reduce the vibration acceleration amplitude and the vibration fre-quency of the wind wheel.At the same time,the bifurcated apex can lower the maximum sound pressure level corresponding to the rotating fundamental frequency of the wind wheel.According to all thesefindings,the tip angle of the bifurcated apex is the main factor enhancing the effect of the modification.

Estimation of Knock Wheel Noise of Rail Transport with an Acoustic Intensity Method

The application of railway wheel noise compensation method is considered. The effect can be obtained by shift a pair of usual parallel rail joints on a pair of offset rail joints, for example, the right rail joint is shifted concerning the left rail joint on the certain distance. The distance is depend on the speed of train and promotes the correlation interconnection between excited acoustical pulses. The intensity wheel knock spectrograms corresponding of different distance between rail joints registered by the microphone are estimated. The spectrograms considerably differed from each other in low frequency band are analyzed. The result of practical using the acoustic noise compensation method is proved.

Review of recent progress in studies on noise emanating from rail transit bridges

In recent years, there has been rapid growth of Chinese rail transit networks. Many of these networks require elevated bridges. This results in a bridge-borne noise source, which occurs in addition to the main noise source （i.e., wheel-rail interactions）. Bridge-borne noise is attracting increasing attention because of its low-frequency noise characteristics. This review paper first analyzes the space distribution, spectral characteristics, and sound pressure levels of noise radiated by all-concrete, steel- concrete composite, and all-steel bridges, mainly according to experimental studies. Second, this paper reviews exist- ing theoretical prediction models of noise emanating from bridges： the semianalytical method, the Rayleigh integral method, the boundary element method, and statistical energy analysis. Several case studies are reviewed, and their results are discussed. Finally, according to the results of the current review, the main factors affecting bridgeborne noise are analyzed, several noise reduction measures are proposed for different types of bridges, and their effectiveness is demonstrated.

Wheel/rail-force–based maintenance interval extension of the C80 series wagon

Purpose–This study aims to introduce the achievements and benefits of applying wheel/rail-force–based maintenance interval extension of the C80 series wagon in China.Design/methodology/approach–Chinese wagons’existing maintenance strategy had left a certain safety margin for the characteristics of widely running range,unstable service environment and submission to transportation organization requirements.To reduce maintenance costs,China railway(CR)has attempted to extend the maintenance interval since 2020.The maintenance cycle of C80 series heavy haul wagons is extended by three months(no stable routing)or 50,000 km(regular routing).However,in the meantime,the alarming rate of the running state,a key index to reflect the severe degree of hunting stability,by the train performance detection system(TPDS)for the C80 series heavy haul wagons has increased significantly.Findings–The present paper addresses a big data statistical way to evaluate the risk of allowing the C80 series heavy haul wagons to remain in operation longer than stipulated by the maintenance interval initial set.Through the maintenance and wayside-detectordata,whichis divided intothreestages,the extension period(three months),the current maintenance period and the previous maintenance period,this method reveals the alarming rate of hunting was correlated with maintenance interval.The maintainability of wagons will be achieved by utilizing wagon performance degradation modeling with the state of the wheelset and the often-contact side bearing.This paper also proposes a statistical model to return to the average safety level of the previous maintenance period’s baseline through correct alarming thresholds for unplanned corrective maintenance.Originality/value–The paper proposes an approach to reduce safety risk due to maintenance interval extension by effective maintenance program.The results are expected to help the railway company make the optimal solution to balance safety and the economy.

Experimental Study of Acoustic Noise Correlation Technique for Passive Monitoring of Rails

The work presented in this paper aims at investigating the ability of acoustic noise correlation technique for railway infrastructure health monitoring. The principle of this technique is based on impulse responses reconstruction by correlation of random noise propagated in the medium. Since wheel-rail interaction constitutes a source of such noise, correlation technique could be convenient for detection of rail defects using only passive sensors. Experiments have been carried out on a 2 m-long rail sample. Acoustic noise is generated in the sample at several positions. Direct comparison between an active emission-reception response and the estimated noise correlation function has confirmed the validity of the equivalence relation between them. The quality of the reconstruction is shown to be strongly related to the spatial distribution of the noise sources. High sensitivity of the noise-correlation functions to a local defect on the rail is also demonstrated. However, interpretation of the defect signature is more ambiguous than when using classical active responses. Application of a spatiotemporal Fourier transform on data recorded with variable sensor-defect distances has allowed overcoming this ambiguity.

Rail Roughness Acceptance Criterion Based on Metro Interior Noise

Severe rail roughness leads to a series of problems in metro systems,particularly the vehicle noise problem.To ensure a better acoustic environment,rail roughness control is therefore one of the main concerns for the metro operators.But the existing roughness acceptance criteria are not suitable for metro interior noise control.It is an appropriate method to determine the rail roughness limit based on interior noise.A rail roughness acceptance criterion based on metro interior noise is accordingly proposed in this paper.The relationship between rail roughness and interior noise can be derived with wheel-rail noise as link.With this objective,a combined test and simulation method is adopted.A validated wheel-rfigil noise prediction model is thus established to determine the relationship between rail roughness and wheel-rail noise.Moreover,the transfer function of wheel-rail noise to interior noise is developed based on extensive field test.Using this method,the noise sensitivity to roughness wavelength and acceptance criteria at different speeds and track structures are investigated.Finally,an eclectic rail corrugation acceptance criterion on curved track is suggested in consideration of practical application.

Numerical and Experimental Study on Vibration and Noise of Embedded Rail System

The Kaohsiung light rail transit (LRT) system first introduced embedded rail system in Taiwan. However, domestic engineering consultants are still lacking in experience of analysis, design and construction of embedded rail systems. Noise and vibration of the mass rapid transit system is an important environmental issue in an urban environment. In order to understand the environmental impact of noise due to structural vibrations caused by a train running on the rail system, this paper establishes a numerical analysis procedure to perform a simulation. There are two fundamental parts to the numerical simulation: 1) vibration response due to a moving load and 2) radiation propagation of noise induced by structural vibration. The Kaohsiung LRT is used as a case study. The real embedded rail track system is modeled using ANSYS software with finite element analysis and the dynamic time history of the vibration response of the rail caused by a moving load is obtained. Secondly, the dynamic vibration response of the rail outputted by ANSYS is then imported into the software LMS Virtual.Lab to obtain the external radiation and sound field pressure distribution transferred from the rail to a specific monitoring point, based on the boundary element method. This paper also conducts field measurements of vibration velocity and sound pressure as a train passes. Both the experimental and analytical results for noise at specific points are compared and discussed. The proposed procedure promises to be suitable for practical vibration and noise analyses for rail systems.

ZigBee Sensor Network Platform for Health Monitoring of Rails Using Ambient Noise Correlation

WSNs （wireless sensor networks） can be used for railway infrastructure inspection and vehicle health monitoring. SHM （structural health monitoring） systems have a great potential to improve regular operation, security and maintenance routine of structures with estimating the state of its health and detecting the changes that affect its performance. This is vital for the development, upgrading, and expansion of railway networks. The work presented in this paper aims at the possible use of acoustic sensors coupled with ZigBee modules for health monitoring of rails. The detection principle is based on acoustic noise correlation techniques. Experiments have been performed in a rail sample to confirm the validity of acoustic noise correlation techniques in the rail. A wireless communication platform prototype based on the ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 technology has been implemented and deployed on a rail sample. Once the signals from the structure are collected, sensor data are transmitted through a ZigBee solution to the processing unit.

Multi-Body Dynamics Modeling of Heavy Goods Vehicle-Rail Interaction

Based on the principle of vehicle-track coupling dynamics, SIMPACK multi-body dynamics software is used to establish a C80 wagon line-coupled multi-body dynamics model with 73 degrees of freedom. And the reasonableness of the line-coupled dynamics model is verified by using the maximum residual acceleration, the nonlinear critical speed of the wagon. The experimental results show that the established vehicle line coupling dynamics model meets the requirements of vehicle line coupling dynamics modeling.

Vibro-acoustic Radiation Characteristics Analysis of Railway Vehicle Wheel with Damping Ridges Based on Modal Strain Energy

The existing researches on the damping wheel mainly focus on investigating the influence of damping structure change on the vibro-acoustic control.The changes include the geometric size of the damping structure,the damping material parameters,and the placement,and so on.In order to further understand the mechanism in reducing the acoustic radiation of railway wheel with layer damping treatment,in this paper,the wheel is simply modified by a full-sized circular plate.The circle plate side has stuck circumference constrained damping ridges and radial constrained damping ridges on it.Based on a hybrid finite element method-boundary element method（FEM-BEM）,the paper develops a vibro-acoustic radiation model for such a distributed constrained damping structure.The vibration and acoustic radiation of the circular plate is analyzed.In the analysis,the dynamic response of the system is obtained by using the 3D finite model superposition method.The obtained vibration response is used as the initial boundary condition in solving Helmholtz boundary integral equation for the sound radiation analysis.In the procedure,firstly,the modal analysis of the circular plate is performed to get the distribution of the system modal strain energy.Secondly,the vibro-acoustic radiation characteristics of the plate with different kinds of circumference damping ridges and radial damping ridges are compared in order to try to find the best effective damping ridge structure.Thirdly,using the distribution of the plate modal strain energy investigates the effect of the ridge distribution locations on the circular plate on its vibro-acoustic radiation.The calculation and analysis research results show that,the sticking circumference and radial damping ridges on the plate can control the vibro-acoustic radiation of the plate effectively in different frequency range.The distribution of the constrained damping ridge has an effect on reduction in vibro-acoustic radiation of the circular plate.The present research is very useful in the design of railway wheel with low noise level.

Wheel-rail Profiles Matching Design Considering Railway Track Parameters

The profile of wheel/rail has great concern with the vehicle running safety, the wheel/rail wear and the rolling contact fatigue between wheel and rail, due to its severer impact on the dynamic behavior of both the railway vehicle/track, and the wheel/rail rolling contact status. However, recent studies in this respect are mainly explored in reverse methods, where track parameters are predetermined and invariable during the optimizing process. This paper attempts to propose a wheel-rail profiles matching design method considering multi-parameter, through optimizing wheel/rail profile under different rail cants and track gauges, based on the existed optimization technology for the normal gap of wheel/rail. The method presented in this paper can also, compared with the prior reverse methods, be called ＂forward solution method＂ in which the riding comfort, wheel unloading rate and wheel/rail contact stress of the speed-up railway passenger car are calculated by means of a vehicle-track coupling dynamic model, with the range of the rail cant varying from 1/20 to 1/40 and the rail gauge from 1 433 mm to 1 441 mm. These results show that the distribution status of the pairs of contact points can be obviously improved and the contact stress can be reduced significantly; a great influence is exposed by the rail cant and track gauge on the dynamic behavior of the high speed passenger car, and an optimal vehicle dynamics behavior are obtained with the optimized wheel/rail profile when the rail cant is 1/30 and the track gauge is 1 435 mm. This research can provide important references for the investigation of the wheel-rail profiles matching design method considering multi-parameter.

ANALYSIS OF THERMAL-ELASTIC STRESS OF WHEEL-RAIL IN ROLLING-SLIDING CONTACT

A coupling thermo-mechanical model of wheel/rail in rolling-sliding contact is put forward using finite element method. The normal contact pressure is idealized as the Hertzian distribution, and the tangential force presented by Carter is used. In order to obtain thermal-elastic stress, the ther-mal-elastic plane stress problem is transformed to an elastic plane stress problem with equivalent fictitious thermal body force and fictitious boundary distributed force. The temperature rise and ther-mal-elastic stress of wheel and rail in rolling-sliding are analyzed. The non-steady state heat transfer between the contact surfaces of wheel and rail, heat-convection and radiation between the wheel/rail and the ambient are taken into consideration. The influences of the wheel rolling speed and wear rate on friction temperature and thermal-elastic stress are investigated. The results show the following： ① For rolling-sliding case, the thermal stress in the thin layer near the contact patch due to the friction temperature rise is severe. The higher rolling speed leads to the lower friction temperature rise and thermal stress in the wheel; ② For sliding case, the friction temperature and thermal stress of the wheel rise quickly in the initial sliding stage, and then get into a steady state gradually. The expansion of the contact patch, due to material wear, can affect the friction temperature rise and the thermal stress during wear process. The higher wear rate generates lower stress. The results can help under-stand the influence of friction temperature and thermal-elastic stress on wheel and rail damage.

Effect of wheelset flexibility on wheel–rail contact behavior and a specific coupling of wheel–rail contact to flexible wheelset

The fexibility of a train＇s wheelset can have a large effect on vehicle–track dynamic responses in the medium to high frequency range.To investigate the effects of wheelset bending and axial deformation of the wheel web,a specifi coupling of wheel–rail contact with a fexible wheelset is presented and integrated into a conventional vehicle–track dynamic system model.Both conventional and the proposed dynamic system models are used to carry out numerical analyses on the effects of wheelset bending and axial deformation of the wheel web on wheel–rail rolling contact behaviors.Excitations with various irregularities and speeds were considered.The irregularities included measured track irregularity and harmonic irregularities with two different wavelengths.The speeds ranged from 200 to400km/h.The results show that the proposed model can characterize the effects of fexible wheelset deformation on the wheel–rail rolling contact behavior very well.

Effects of Lateral Motion on the Creep Forces in Wheel/Rail Rolling Contact

The influences of the lateral motion of a single wheelset running on a tangent railway on the creepages and creep forces between wheel and rail are investigated with numerical methods. The effect of the yaw motion of wheelset is neglected in the analysis, and Kalker’s theory of three dimensional elastic bodies in rolling contact is employed to analyze the creep forces in the wheel/rail rolling contact with Non Hertzian form.

Simulation of wheel and rail profile wear:a review of numerical models

The development of numerical models able to compute the wheel and rail profile wear is essential to improve the scheduling of maintenance operations required to restore the original profile shapes.This work surveys the main numerical models in the literature for the evaluation of the uniform wear of wheel and rail profiles.The standard structure of these tools includes a multibody simulation of the wheel-track coupled dynamics and a wear module implementing an experimental wear law.Therefore,the models are classified according to the strategy adopted for the worn profile update,ranging from models performing a single computation to models based on an online communication between the dynamic and wear modules.Nevertheless,the most common strategy nowadays relies on an iteration of dynamic simulations in which the profiles are left unchanged,with co-simulation techniques often adopted to increase the computational performances.Work is still needed to improve the accuracy of the current models.New experimental campaigns should be carried out to obtain refined wear coefficients and models,while strategies for the evaluation of both longitudinal and transversal wear,also considering the effects of tread braking,should be implemented to obtain accurate damage models.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF TWO-POINT CONTACT BETWEEN WHEEL AND RAIL

The elastic-plastic contact problem with rolling friction of wheel-rail is solved using the FE parametric quadratic programming method. Thus, the complex elastic-plastic contact problem can be calculated with high accuracy and efficiency, while the Hertz＇s hypothesis and the elastic semi-space assumption are avoided. Based on the ‘one-point＇ contact calculation of wheel-rail, the computational model of ‘two-point＇ contact are established and calculated when the wheel flange is close to the rail. In the case of ‘two-point＇ contact, the changing laws of wheelrail contact are introduced and contact forces in various load cases are carefully analyzed. The main reason of wheel flange wear and rail side wear is found. Lubrication computational model of the wheel flange is constructed. Comparing with the result without lubrication, the contact force between wheel flange and rail decreases, which is beneficial for reducing the wear of wheel-rail.

A dynamic simulation of the wheel–rail impact caused by a wheel flat using a 3D rolling contact model

A three-dimensional （3-D） wheel-rail rolling contact model with a wheel fiat was built using commercial software Hypermesh, and the dynamic finite element simulation was conducted using LS-DYNA 3D/explicit code. Influences of the train speed, flat length and axle load on the vertical wheel-rail impact response were discussed, respectively. The results show that the maximum vertical wheel-rail impact force induced by the wheel flat is higher than that generated by the perfect wheel, and these two dynamic impact forces are much greater than the static axle load. Besides, the maximum von Mises equivalent stress and maximum equivalent plastic strain are observed on the wheel-rail contact surface, and both of them as well as the maximum wheel-rail impact force are sensitive to train speed, fiat length and axle load.