Analysis of wheel-rail adhesion redundancy considering the thirdbody medium on the rail surface

Purpose–In response to the problem of insufficient traction/braking adhesion force caused by the existence of the third-body medium on the rail surface,this study aims to analyze the utilization of wheel-rail adhesion coefficient under different medium conditions and propose relevant measures for reasonable and optimized utilization of adhesion to ensure the traction/braking performance and operation safety of trains.Design/methodology/approach–Based on the PLS-160 wheel-rail adhesion simulation test rig,the study investigates the variation patterns of maximum utilized adhesion characteristics on the rail surface under different conditions of small creepage and large slip.Through statistical analysis of multiple sets of experimental data,the statistical distribution patterns of maximum utilized adhesion on the rail surface are obtained,and a method for analyzing wheel-rail adhesion redundancy based on normal distribution is proposed.The study analyzes the utilization of traction/braking adhesion,as well as adhesion redundancy,for different medium under small creepage and large slip conditions.Based on these findings,relevant measures for the reasonable and optimized utilization of adhesion are derived.Findings–When the third-body medium exists on the rail surface,the train should adopt the low-level service braking to avoid the braking skidding by extending the braking distance.Compared with the current adhesion control strategy of small creepage,adopting appropriate strategies to control the train’s adhesion coefficient near the second peak point of the adhesion coefficient-slip ratio curve in large slip can effectively improve the traction/braking adhesion redundancy and the upper limit of adhesion utilization,thereby ensuring the traction/braking performance and operation safety of the train.Originality/value–Most existing studies focus on the wheel-rail adhesion coefficient values and variation patterns under different medium conditions,without considering whether the rail surface with different medium can provide sufficient traction/braking utilized adhesion coefficient for the train.Therefore,there is a risk of traction overspeeding/braking skidding.This study analyzes whether the rail surface with different medium can provide sufficient traction/braking utilized adhesion coefficient for the train and whether there is redundancy.Based on these findings,relevant measures for the reasonable and optimized utilization of adhesion are derived to further ensure operation safety of the train.

Testing and modelling of transient adhesion phenomena in rolling-sliding contacts

Transient adhesion effects in rolling–sliding contacts influence all aspects of train–track interaction.This is of high importance specifically when these effects result in critically low adhesion,which poses a risk to traction and braking of railway vehicles.This study presents a model that can replicate the transient changes of the coefficient of adhesion with tested water and solid particle mix.The experimental data for the model are measured using a commercial ball-on-disc tribometer.The experimental results showed a liquid reservoir in front of the contact area that slowly reduces in size.This observation was used in the modelling approach to divide the calculation into two stages where the reservoir is present and when it disappears.The model was able to reproduce the occurrence of low adhesion region seen in experimental results with different particle concentrations.

Road identification method based on angular acceleration of vehicle driving wheel

The fundamental principle of road identification by using angular acceleration of driving wheels was demonstrated in this paper. Based on the analysis of energy conversion and parameters variation during the vehicle drive slip process, the change of adhesion coefficient relative to the an- gular acceleration were theoretically studied experimentally validated. The variation shows that the change of adhesion coefficient relative to the angular acceleration and the change of slip ratio in the drive slip process have same trend-both of them exist an only optimal angular acceleration corre- sponding to the peak value of adhesion coefficient. The peak adhesion coefficient of the prototype vehicle is about 0. 14 on the ice-covered road surfaces, with the corresponding optimal angular accel- eration of about 23.5 rad/s2 and optimal slip ratio of about 9. 4%.