Advancing high-speed train gearbox durability:enhanced bearing load and contact stress through transition from helical to herringbone gears

High-speed trains typically utilize helical gear transmissions,which significantly impact the bearing load capacity and fatigue service performance of the gearbox bearings.This paper focuses on the gearbox bearings,establishing dynamic models for both helical gear and herringbone gear transmissions in high-speed trains.The modeling particularly emphasizes the precision of the bearings at the gearbox's pinion and gear wheels.Using this model,a comparative analysis is conducted on the bearing loads and contact stresses of the gearbox bearings under uniform-speed operation between the two gear transmissions.The findings reveal that the helical gear transmission generates axial forces leading to severe load imbalance on the bearings at both sides of the large gear,and this imbalance intensifies with the increase in train speed.Consequently,this results in a significant increase in contact stress on the bearings on one side.The adoption of herringbone gear transmission effectively suppresses axial forces,resolving the load imbalance issue and substantially reducing the contact stress on the originally biased side of the bearings.The study demonstrates that employing herringbone gear transmission can significantly enhance the service performance of high-speed train gearbox bearings,thereby extending their service life.

Calculation of high-speed abrasion forces for ceramic coatings based on the Hertzian contact model

Aero engine seal coatings can effectively improve the air tightness of aircraft engines and increase fuel efficiency.However,due to the frictional forces between the blades and the coating,the coating often flakes off,resulting in damage to the blades and causing eco-nomic losses.Therefore,it is necessary to analyze the friction between the blades and the coating.In this paper,three ceramic-based high-temperature seal coatings with different polyphenylene ester contents and a pure Yttria-stabilised zirconia coating were prepared by atmo-spheric plasma spraying(APS).The hardness and modulus of elasticity of the coated surfaces were obtained by hardness and modulus of elasticity tests,and the coatings were subjected to high-speed touch abrasion tests.The Hertzian contact model was used to calculate the maximum normal contact load on the coating during the process.The test values were compared with the theoretical values and it was found that the calculated values were always greater than the test values.In order to make the Hertzian contact model more accurate in calculating the touching and abrasion forces,the contact coefficients in the Hertzian contact model were optimized.Substituting the optimized coeffi-cients into the Hertzian contact model,the results show that the calculated results after optimizing the coefficients are much closer to the test values,with deviations from the test values ranging from 1%to 38%.

Wheel-rail contact model for railway vehicle-structure interaction applications:development and validation

An enhancement in the wheel-rail contact model used in a nonlinear vehicle-structure interaction(VSI)methodology for railway applications is presented,in which the detection of the contact points between wheel and rail in the concave region of the thread-flange transition is implemented in a simplified way.After presenting the enhanced formulation,the model is validated with two numerical applications(namely,the Manchester Benchmarks and a hunting stability problem of a sus-pended wheelset),and one experimental test performed in a test rig from the Railway Technical Research Institute(RTRI)in Japan.Given its finite element(FE)nature,and contrary to most of the vehicle multibody dynamic commercial software that cannot account for the infrastructure flexibility,the proposed VSI model can be easily used in the study of train-bridge systems with any degree of complexity.The validation presented in this work proves the accuracy of the proposed model,making it a suitable tool for dealing with different railway dynamic applications,such as the study of bridge dynamics,train running safety under different scenarios(namely,earthquakes and crosswinds,among others),and passenger riding comfort.

Multi-point Contact of the High-speed Vehicle-turnout System Dynamics

The wheel-rail contact problems, such as the number, location and the track of contact patches, are very important for optimizing the spatial structure of the rails and lowering the vehicle-turnout system dynamics. However, the above problems are not well solved currently because of having the difficulties in how to determine the multi-contact, to preciously present the changeable profiles of the rails and to establish an accurate spatial turnout system dynamics model. Based on a high-speed vehicle-turnout coupled model in which the track is modeled as flexible with rails and sleepers represented by beams, the line tracing extreme point method is introduced to investigate the wheel-rail multiple contact conditions and the key sections of the blade rail, longer nose rail, shorter rail in the switch and nose rail area are discretized to represent the varying profiles of rails in the turnout. The dynamic interaction between the vehicle and turnout is simulated for cases of the vehicle divergently passing the turnout and the multi-point contact is obtained. The tracks of the contact patches on the top of the rails are presented and the wheel-rail impact forces are offered in comparison with the contact patches transference on the rails. The numerical simulation results indicate that the length of two-point contact occurrence of a worn wheel profile and rails is longer than that of the new wheel profile and rails; The two-point contact definitely occurs in the switch and crossing area. Generally, three-point contact doesn’t occur for the new rail profile, which is testified by the wheel-rails interpolation distance and the first order derivative function of the tracing line extreme points. The presented research is not only helpful to optimize the structure of the turnout, but also useful to lower the dynamics of the high speed vehicle-turnout system.

Dynamic Stability Analysis of Cages in High-Speed Oil-Lubricated Angular Contact Ball Bearings

To investigate the cage stability of high-speed oil-lubricated angular contact ball bearings, a dynamic model of cages is developed on the basis of Gupta’s and Meeks’ work. The model can simulate the cage motion under oil lubrication with all six degrees of freedom. Particularly, the model introduces oil-film damping and hysteresis damping, and deals with the collision contact as imperfect elastic contact. In addition, the effects of inner ring rotational speed, the ratio of pocket clearance to guiding clearance and applied load on the cage stability are investigated by simulating the cage motion with the model. The results can provide a theoretical basis for the design of ball bearing parameters.

Pantograph-catenary electrical contact system of high-speed railways:recent progress,challenges,and outlooks

As the unique power entrance,the pantograph-catenary electrical contact system maintains the efficiency and reliability of power transmission for the high-speed train.Along with the fast development of high-speed railways all over the world,some commercialized lines are built for covering the remote places under harsh environment,especially in China;these environmental elements including wind,sand,rain,thunder,ice and snow need to be considered during the design of the pantograph-catenary system.The pantograph-catenary system includes the pantograph,the contact wire and the interface—pantograph slide.As the key component,this pantograph slide plays a critical role in reliable power transmission under dynamic condition.The fundamental material characteristics of the pantograph slide and contact wire such as electrical conductivity,impact resistance,wear resistance,etc.,directly determine the sliding electrical contact performance of the pantograph-catenary system;meanwhile,different detection methods of the pantograph-catenary system are crucial for the reliability of service and maintenance.In addition,the challenges brought from extreme operational conditions are discussed,taking the Sichuan-Tibet Railway currently under construction as a special example with the high-altitude climate.The outlook for developing the ultra-high-speed train equipped with the novel pantograph-catenary system which can address the harsher operational environment is also involved.This paper has provided a comprehensive review of the high-speed railway pantograph-catenary systems,including its progress,challenges,outlooks in the history and future.

A trailer car dynamics model considering brake rigging of a high-speed train and its application

Brake systems are essential for the speed regulation or braking of a high-speed train.The vehicle dynamic performance under braking condition is complex and directly affects the reliability and running safety.To reveal the vehicle dynamic behaviour in braking process,a comprehensive trailer car dynamics model(TCDM)considering brake systems is established in this paper.The dynamic interactions between the brake system and the other connected components are achieved using the brake disc-pad frictions,brake suspension systems,and wheel-rail interactions.The force and motion transmission from the brake system to the wheel-rail interface is performed by the proposed TCDM excited by track irregularity.In addition,the validity of TCDM is verified by experimental test results.On this basis,the dynamic behaviour of the coupled system is simulated and discussed.The findings indicate that the braking force significantly affects vehicle dynamic behaviour including the wheel-rail forces,suspension forces,wheelset torsional vibration,etc.The dynamic interactions within the brake system are also significantly affected by the vehicle vibration due to track irregularity.Besides,the developed TCDM can be further employed to the dynamic assessment of such a coupled mechanical system under different braking conditions.

Gaps,challenges and possible solution for prediction of wheel-rail rolling contact fatigue crack initiation

The prediction of wheel/rail rolling contact fatigue(RCF)crack initiation during railway operations is an important task.Since RCF crack evolution is influenced by many factors,its prediction process is complex.This paper reviews the existing approaches to predict RCF crack initiation.The crack initiation region is predicted by the shakedown map.By combining the shakedown map with various initiation criteria and the critical plane method,the crack initiation life is calculated.The classification,methodologies,theories and applications of these approaches are included in this paper.The advantages and limitations of these methods are analyzed to provide recommendation for RCF crack initiation prediction.This review highlights that wheel/rail dynamic characteristic,complex working conditions,surface defects and wear all affect the RCF crack initiation.The optimal selection of criteria is essential in the crack initiation prediction.Based on the research gap regarding the challenging process of crack initiation prediction detailed in this review,a proposed prediction process of RCF crack initiation is proposed to achieve a more accurate result.

Research on fatigue evaluation method of high-speed train axle based on axle box acceleration

As a key safety component of the high-speed train, fatigue fracture of the axle would lead to major accidents such as derailment or overturning. The complexity of the axle dynamic stress test seriously enhances the difficulty of axle fatigue damage analysis. In this paper, the dynamic stress test of the high-speed train axle was carried out,the axle box acceleration was monitored on-track during the test, and the relationship between the axle stress spectrum and acceleration was analyzed on-track. The results show that the relationships between the axle equivalent stresses and the Root Mean Square(RMS) values of the axle box vertical acceleration and lateral acceleration exhibit a strong joint probability density distribution. The concept of the virtual surface density of wheel-rail contact is also proposed to realize the purpose of using axle box acceleration to deduce axle equivalent force. The results quantify the relationship between axle box acceleration and axle equivalent force, provide a new method for predicting the axle damage using the acceleration RMS values, and open up a new approach for structural health monitoring of high-speed train axles.

Characteristics of wheel-rail vibration of the vertical section in high-speed railways

In order to analyze the characteristics of wheel-rail vibration of the vertical section in a high-speed railway, a vehicle-line dynamics model is established using the dynamics software SIMPACK. Through this model, the paper analyzes the influence of vertical section parameters, including vertical section slope and vertical curve radius, on wheel-rail dynamics interaction and the acting region of wheel-rail vibration. In addition, the characteristics of wheel- rail vibration of the vertical section under different velocities are investigated. The results show that the variation of wheel load is not sensitive to the vertical section slope but is greatly affected by the vertical curve radius. It was also observed that the smaller the vertical curve radius is, the more severe the interaction between the wheel and rail be- comes. Furthermore, the acting region of wheel-rail vibration expands with the vertical curve radius increasing. On another note, it is necessary to match the slope and vertical curve radius reasonably, on account of the influence of operation speed on the characteristics of wheel-rail vibration. This is especially important at the design stage of vertical sec- tions for lines of different grades.

Influence of railway wheel tread damage on wheel-rail impact loads and the durability of wheelsets

Dynamic wheel-rail contact forces induced by a severe form of wheel tread damage have been measured by a wheel impact load detector during full-scale field tests at different vehicle speeds.Based on laser scanning,the measured three-dimensional damage geometry is employed in simulations of dynamic vehicle-track interaction to calibrate and verify a simulation model.The relation between the magnitude of the impact load and various operational parameters,such as vehicle speed,lateral position of wheel-rail contact,track stiffness and position of impact within a sleeper bay,is investigated.The calibrated model is later employed in simulations featuring other forms of tread damage;their effects on impact load and subsequent fatigue impact on bearings,wheel webs and subsurface initiated rolling contact fatigue of the wheel tread are assessed.The results quantify the effects of wheel tread defects and are valuable in a shift towards condition-based maintenance of running gear,and for general assessment of the severity of different types of railway wheel tread damage.

Research on the influence of flexible wheelset rotation effect on wheel rail contact force

Purpose-Under the high-speed operating conditions,the effects of wheelset elastic deformation on the wheel rail dynamic forces will become more notable compared to the low-speed condition.In order to meet different analysis requirements and selecting appropriate models to analyzing the wheel rail interaction,it is crucial to understand the influence of wheelset flexibility on the wheel-rail dynamics under different speeds and track excitations condition.Design/methodology/approach-The wheel rail contact points solving method and vehicle dynamics equations considering wheelset flexibility in the trajectory body coordinate system were investigated in this paper.As for the wheel-rail contact forces,which is a particular force element in vehicle multibody system,a method for calculating the Jacobian matrix of the wheel-rail contact force is proposed to better couple the wheel-rail contact force calculation with the vehicle dynamics response calculation.Based on the flexible wheelset modeling approach in this paper,two vehicle dynamic models considering the wheelset as both elastic and rigid bodies are established,two kinds of track excitations,namely normal measured track irregularities and short-wave irregularities are used,wheel-rail geometric contact characteristic and wheel-rail contact forces in both time and frequency domains are compared with the two models in order to study the influence of flexible wheelset rotation effect on wheel rail contact force.Findings-Under normal track irregularity excitations,the amplitudes of vertical,longitudinal and lateral forces computed by the flexible wheelset model are smaller than those of the rigid wheelset model,and the virtual penetration and equivalent contact patch are also slightly smaller.For the flexible wheelset model,the wheel rail longitudinal and lateral creepages will also decrease.The higher the vehicle speed,the larger the differences in wheel-rail forces computed by the flexible and rigid wheelset model.Under track short-wave irregularity excitations,the vertical force amplitude computed by the flexible wheelset is also smaller than that of the rigid wheelset.However,unlike the excitation case of measured track irregularity,under short-wave excitations,for the speed within the range of 200 to 350 km/h,the difference in the amplitude of the vertical force between the flexible and rigid wheelset models gradually decreases as the speed increase.This is partly due to the contribution of wheelset's elastic vibration under short-wave excitations.For low-frequency wheel-rail force analysis problems at speeds of 350 km/h and above,as well as high-frequency wheel-rail interaction analysis problems under various speed conditions,the flexible wheelset model will give results agrees better with the reality.Originality/value-This study provides reference for the modeling method of the flexible wheelset and the coupling method of wheel-rail contact force to the vehicle multibody dynamics system.Furthermore,by comparative research,the influence of wheelset flexibility and rotation on wheel-rail dynamic behavior are obtained,which is useful to the application scope of rigid and flexible wheelset models.

Study on the dynamic contact relationship between layers under temperature gradients in CRTSⅢ ballastless track

In areas with large temperature differences,the uneven distribution of temperatures in the CRTS III ballastless track slab due to daytime sunlight can cause warpage deformation,leading to periodic rail irregularities that increase the wheel-rail impact of high-speed vehicles and accelerate track structure damage.Therefore,it is necessary to study the dynamic contact relationship between the composite slab and the base plate during vehicle running.The results of the study show that:1)Under the influence of temperature gradients,the composite slab tends to deform elliptically.With a positive temperature gradient,the middle part of the track slab bulges upward,causing the slab to be supported by its four corners.Conversely,with a negative temperature gradient,the four corners of the track slab bulge upward,resulting in the slab being supported by its center.2)Temperature gradients can lead to separation between the composite slab and the base plate,reducing the contact area between layers.During vehicle running,the contact area between layers gradually increases,but the separation cannot be completely closed.3)The temperature gradient significantly affects the vertical displacement of the track.The vertical displacement in the middle of the slab increases with a positive temperature gradient.In contrast,the vertical displacement at the ends of the slab increases with a negative temperature gradient.4)The stress of self-compacting concrete at the side position significantly increases under a positive temperature gradient,with the vertical stress increasing by 2.7 times when the temperature gradient increases from 0 to 90℃·m^(-1).

Analysis of Dual-Core Type City and Its Hinterland Contact Pattern under the Background of High-Speed Rail Networking—Urban Agglomeration in Zhejiang Province as an Example

Under the background of high-speed rail networking, this paper uses the passenger trains, the type and direction of the railway via Hang Yong and its extension road line, to construct adsorption and dependency index among cities, depict the contact pattern between the Hang Yong dual-core and its hinterland, measure the “net effect” that two center cities (Hangzhou, Ningbo) have on their hinterland, and estimate population agglomeration potential and future possible population flows of Zhejiang Province and the main sample cities. The result shows that, compared with Ningbo, Hangzhou has stronger radiation force to the vast majority of sample cities, and the sample cities affected more by Ningbo mainly concentrates in Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou along;in addition, the sample cities such as Hangzhou, Ningbo and so on show better population agglomeration, then the population “scramble” phenomenon between cities has begun to appear.

Tailoring lithium intercalation pathway in 2D van der Waals heterostructure for high-speed edge-contacted floating-gate transistor and artificial synapses

Local phase transition in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) by lithiumintercalation enables the fabrication of high-quality contact interfaces in twodimensional(2D) electronic devices. However, controlling the intercalation oflithium is hitherto challenging in vertically stacked van der Waalsheterostructures (vdWHs) due to the random diffusion of lithium ions in thehetero-interface, which hinders their application for contact engineering of 2DvdWHs devices. Herein, a strategy to restrict the lithium intercalation pathwayin vdWHs is developed by using surface-permeation assisted intercalationwhile sealing all edges, based on which a high-performance edge-contact MoS_(2)vdWHs floating-gate transistor is demonstrated. Our method avoids intercalationfrom edges that are prone to be random but intentionally promotes lithiumintercalation from the top surface. The derived MoS_(2) floating-gatetransistor exhibits improved interface quality and significantly reduced subthresholdswing (SS) from >600 to 100 mV dec^(–1). In addition, ultrafast program/erase performance together with well-distinguished 32 memory statesare demonstrated, making it a promising candidate for low-power artificialsynapses. The study on controlling the lithium intercalation pathways in 2DvdWHs offers a viable route toward high-performance 2D electronics for memoryand neuromorphic computing purposes.

Fatigue life evaluation on key components of high-speed railway catenary system

The fatigue load spectrum and operation life evaluation of key components in the catenary system under the high speed train running condition were investigated.Firstly,based on the catenary model and pantograph model,the couple dynamic equations of pantograph–catenary were built with the Lagrange’s method;then the dynamic contact force was obtained by the Newmark method at the train speeds of 250,280 and 300 km/h,respectively.Secondly,the finite element model(FEM)of one anchor section’s catenary was built to analyze its transient response under the contact force as train running;then the loading time history of messenger wire base,steady arm,registration tube,oblique cantilever,and straight cantilever were extracted.Finally,the key components’fatigue spectrum was carried out by the rain-flow counting method,and operation life was estimated in consideration of such coefficients,such as stress concentration,shape and dimension,surface treatment.The results show that the fatigue life of the catenary system reduces with the increasing of train speed;specifically,the evaluated fatigue life of the steady arm is shorter than other components.

Investigation into rail corrugation in high-speed railway tracks from the viewpoint of the frictional self-excited vibration of a wheel–rail system

A finite element vibration model of a multiple wheel-rail system which consists of four wheels, one rail, and a series of sleepers is established to address the problem of rail corrugation in high-speed tracks. In the model, the creep forces between the wheels and rail are considered to be saturated and equal to the normal contact forces times the friction coefficient. The oscillation of the rail is coupled with that of wheels in the action of the saturated creep forces. When the coupling is strong, self- excited oscillation of the wheel-rail system occurs. The self-excited vibration propensity of the model is analyzed using the complex eigenvalue method. Results show that there are strong propensities of unstable self-excited vibrations whose frequencies are less than 1,200 Hz under some conditions. Preventing wheels from slipping on rails is an effective method for suppressing rail corrugation in high-speed tracks.

An integrated approach for the optimization of wheel-rail contact force measurement systems

A comprehension of railway dynamic behavior implies the measure of wheel-rail contact forces which are affected by disturbances and errors that are often difficult to be quantified. In this study, a benchmark test case is proposed, and a bogie with a layout used on some European locomotives such as SIEMENS El90 is studied. In this layout, an additional shaft on which brake disks are installed is used to transmit the braking torque to the wheelset through a single-stage gearbox. Using a mixed approach based on finite element techniques and statistical considerations, it is possible to evaluate an optimal layout for strain gauge positioning and to optimize the measurement system to diminish the effects of noise and disturbance. We also conducted preliminary evaluations on the precision and frequency response of the proposed system.

Simulation on derailment base on a new wheel-rail contact method

The simulation package for special research on derailment of high speed vehicle is established.The process of derailment is different from other behaviors of vehicle dynamics because of large lateral displacement of wheelsets.To get correct results,a new fast algorithm to computing contact force is adopted and the exact geometry analysis is necessary to judge derailment happened.Variation of contact condition and coefficient of friction with speeds are also considered into vehicle-track coupled model.The structure of the package is presented in detail.The results are particular emphasis on investigation influence of maximum track defect,critical vehicle speed and various contact condition on derailment.The simulation can also be used to define the most risk factor leading to derailment.

Research of inverse mathematical model to high-speed trains

Operation safety and stability of the train mainly depend on the interaction between the wheel and rail.Knowledge of wheel/rail contact force is important for vehicle control systems that aim to enhance vehicle stability and passenger safety.Since wheel/rail contact forces of high-speed train are very difficult to measure directly,a new estimation process for wheel/rail contact forces was introduced in this work.Based on the state space equation,dynamic programming methods and the Bellman principle of optimality,the main theoretical derivation of the inversion mathematical model was given.The new method overcomes the weakness of large fluctuations which exist in current inverse techniques.High-speed vehicle was chosen as the research object,accelerations of axle box as input conditions,10 degrees of freedom vertical vibration model and 17 degrees of freedom lateral vibration model were established,respectively.Under 250 km/h,the vertical and lateral wheel/rail forces were identified.From the time domain and frequency domain,the comparison of the results between inverse and SIMPACK models were given.The results show that the inverse mathematical model has high precision for inversing the wheel/rail contact forces of an operation high-speed vehicle.