A Novel Model for Describing Rail Weld Irregularities and Predicting Wheel-Rail Forces Using a Machine Learning Approach

Rail weld irregularities are one of the primary excitation sources for vehicle-track interaction dynamics in modern high-speed railways.They can cause significant wheel-rail dynamic interactions,leading to wheel-rail noise,component damage,and deterioration.Few researchers have employed the vehicle-track interaction dynamic model to study the dynamic interactions between wheel and rail induced by rail weld geometry irregularities.However,the cosine wave model used to simulate rail weld irregularities mainly focuses on the maximum value and neglects the geometric shape.In this study,novel theoretical models were developed for three categories of rail weld irregularities,based on measurements of the high-speed railway from Beijing to Shanghai.The vertical dynamic forces in the time and frequency domains were compared under different running speeds.These forces generated by the rail weld irregularities that were measured and modeled,respectively,were compared to validate the accuracy of the proposed model.Finally,based on the numerical study,the impact force due to rail weld irrregularity is modeled using an Artificial Neural Network(ANN),and the optimum combination of parameters for this model is found.The results showed that the proposed model provided a more accurate wheel/rail dynamic evaluation caused by rail weld irregularities than that established in the literature.The ANN model used in this paper can effectively predict the impact force due to rail weld irrregularity while reducing the computation time.

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.

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.

Safety evaluation for railway vehicles using an improved indirect measurement method of wheel–rail forces

The wheel-rail force measurement is of great importance to the condition monitoring and safety evaluation of railway vehicles. In this paper, an improved indirect method for wheel-rail force measurement is proposed to evaluate the running safety of railway vehicles. In this method, the equilibrium equations of a suspended wheelset are derived and the wheel-rail forces are then be obtained from measured suspension and inertia forces. This indirect method avoids structural modifications to the wheelset and is applicable to the long-term operation of railway vehicles. As the wheel-rail lateral forces at two sides of the wheelset are difficult to separate, a new derailment criterion by combined use of wheelset derailment coefficient and wheel unloading ratio is proposed. To illustrate its effectiveness, the indirect method is applied to safety evaluation of rail- way vehicles in different scenarios, such as the cross wind safety of a high-speed train and the safety of a metro vehicle with hunting motions. Then, the feasibility of using this method to identify wheel-rail forces for low-floor light rail vehicles with resilient wheels is discussed. The values identified by this method is compared with that by Simpack simulation for the same low-floor vehicle, which shows a good coincidence between them in the time domain of the wheelset lateral force and the wheel-rail vertical force. In addition, use of the method to determine the high-frequency wheel-rail interaction forces reveals that it is possible to identify the high-frequency wheel-rail forces through the accelerations on the axle box.

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.

ANALYSIS OF CREEP FORCES OF WHEEL/RAIL

The effects of structure elastic deformations of wheelset and track on creep forces of wheel and rail are investigated.Finite element method is used to calculate the influence coefficients expressing the relations between structure elastic deformations of wheelset and track and the corresponding loads in the rolling direction and the lateral direction of wheelset,respectively.The influence coefficients of wheelset and track are used to revise some of the influence coefficients obtained with the formula of Bossinesq and Cerruti in Kalker's theory of three dimensional elastic bodies in rolling contact with non Hertzian form.The theory of Kalker and the modified theory of Kalker are respectively employed to analyze creep forces of wheelset and track.The numerical results obtained show a great influence of structure elastic deformations of wheelset and track on the creep forces.Therfore it is not reasonable that wheel and rail are treated as elastic half space in the analysis of wheel and rail in rolling contact,and the present theories of rolling contact based on the assumption of elastic half space need to be further improved

The Roll Stability Analysis of Semi-Trailer Based on the Wheel Force

It is different for the liquid tank semi-trailer to keep roll stability during turning or emergency voidance,and that may cause serious accidents.Although the scholars did lots of research about the roll stability of liquid tank semi-trailer in theory by calculating and simulation,how to make an effective early warning of rollover is still unsolved in practice.The reasons include the complex driving condition and the difficulty of the vehicle parameter obtaining.The feasible method used currently is evaluating the roll stability of a liquid tank semi-trailer by the lateral acceleration or the attitude of the vehicle.Unfortunately,the lateral acceleration is more useful for sideslip rather than rollover,and the attitude is a kind of posterior way,which means it is hard to take measures to cope with the rollover accident when the attitude exceeds the safety threshold.Considering the movement of the vehicle is totally caused by the wheel force,the rollover could also be predicted by the changing of the wheel force.Therefore,in this paper,we developed a method to analyze the roll stability by the vertical wheel force.A thorough experiment environment is established,and the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified in real driving conditions.

Influence of Angle of Attack and Lateral Force between Wheel and Rail on Wear of Rail ——a Laboratory Study

Angle of attack and lateral force are two important parameters influencing wheel rail wear. This paper deals with the question of influences of the angle of attack and the lateral force on the wear of rail. A series of experiments are conducted on 1/4 JD 1 Wheel/Rail Tribology Simulation Facility. The angles of attack selected in the tests are 0°16′30″, 0°37′40″ and 1°0′0″ respectively. The lateral forces selected in the tests are 0.694 kN, 1.250 kN and 2.083 kN, respectively corresponding to the lateral forces of 25 kN, 45 kN and 75 kN measured in the field, with the aim of keeping the same ratio of L/V between laboratory and field conditions. It is found that the larger the angle of attack is, the more serious the wear of rail is. The relation of rail wear rate versus angle of attack is non linear, and the relation of rail wear rate versus lateral force is approximately linear. The influence of angle of attack is more serious than that of lateral force. For the tractive wheelset, the wear index involving linear and quadratic function terms of angle of attack has good agreement with the limited experimental data. Some conclusions are given.

Study on the Curve of Lateral Creep Force of Wheel and Rail

Through the establishment of the negotiation model ofa single-wheelset, the changed curve of the wheel-rail lateral contact characteristic under different working conditions of track media was simulated and analyzed.The elastic mode of the wheel pair, the transverse elasticity of the track, the stick-slip vibration between the wheel and the track, the negative gradient characteristic of the actual creep force characteristic curve, and the right shift characteristic of the saturation point are considered by Simulink model.This can explain many kinds of creep theory and engineering phenomena and also can provide the support of the theoretical and practical for further research based on creep characteristic curve.

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.

Modeling of Energy Processes in Wheel-Rail Contacts Operating under Influence of Periodic Discontinuous Forces

In this paper we present new numerical simulation approaches for determining the energy processes under periodic conditions caused by time-discontinuous forces in the wheel-rail contacts. The main advantage of the presented method is the total elimination of frequency analysis, which in effect introduces important simplifications in the identification of the effects in the contact. The second important feature is the fact that the method is based on the analysis of appropriate loops on the energy phase plane leading to an easy estimation of the rail strength through the evaluation of the loop’s area. That model based simulation in the applied dynamics relies on advanced methods for model setup, robust and efficient numerical solution techniques and powerful simulation tools for practical applications. Fundamental properties of contact displacements of the rail surface have been considered on the basis of the newly established method. The contact zone between railway wheels and the rail surfaces made of bulk materials is perceived as strong enough to resist the normal (vertical) forces introduced by heavy loads and the dynamic response induced by track and wheel irregularities. The analysis is carried out for a wheel running on an elastic rail rested on sleepers arranged on completely rigid foundation. The equations of displacement motion are established through the application of the Lagrange equations approach. The established model of the wheel-rail contact dynamics has been applied to that same roll plane but with taking into account a nonlinear characteristic of the sleeper with respect to the ground. Attention then is focused completely on the modeling of the energy absorbed by the rail. The applied method employs the energy state variables as time functions leading to determine the susceptibility of a given contact on the strength induced by the rail roll.

GRINDING FORCE IN PRECISION MACHINING OF WC-Co COATING BY CUP WHEEL

High machining precision and machining efficiency can be obtained in grinding WC-Co coating by cup wheel. The conventional model of the grinding force is not suitable for the grinding of the cup wheel due to the difference in grinding style between the cup wheel and the conventional external wheel. So the grit grinding process of the cup wheel is studied, and a new concept of the effective grinding width of the cup wheel is presented. Then the grinding force in grinding WC-Co coating materials by cup wheel is analyzed and a theoretical formula is deduced. Finally, experimental results of the grinding force verify the correctness and the precision of the theoretical formula.

Driving Force Model for Non-pneumatic Elastic Wheel

In order to obtain good driving performance,a driving force model is presented for non-pneumatic elastic wheel.Brush model of pneumatic tyres is introduced and the deformations of elastic supports and tread are also taken into account.The longitudinal slip rate is redefined.The grounding pressure distribution of elastic wheels is analyzed and corrected according to speed,temperature and stiffness.Then rolling resistance equation is developed.Finally,simulation is conducted by software CarSim,and the results show that the estimated values are consistent with simulation values,especially at low longitudinal slip rate.The research can help to optimize design of non-pneumatic elastic wheel.

Mechanics model of additional longitudinal force transmission between bridges and continuously welded rails with small resistance fasteners

A new mechanics model, which reveals additional longitudinal force transmission between the continuously welded rails and the bridges, is established on the fact that the influence of the mutual relative displacement (among) the rail, the sleeper and the beam is taken into account. An example is presented and numerical results are compared. The results show that the additional longitudinal forces calculated with the new model are less than those of the previous, especially in the case of the flexible pier bridges. The new model is also suitable for the analysis of the additional longitudinal force transmission between rails and bridges of ballastless track with small resistance fasteners without taking the sleeper displacement into account, and compared with the ballast bridges, the ballastless bridges have a much stronger additional longitudinal force transmission between the continuously welded rails and the bridges.

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.

Structure Optimization of Wheel Force Transducer Based on Natural Frequency and Comprehensive Sensitivity

The current research of wheel force transducer （WFT） mainly focuses on test signal processing and decoupling methods based on signal itself, while the WFT structure optimization research related to decreasing the mass and increase the natural frequency and comprehen- sive sensitivity is not enough. In order to improve the WFT test accuracy, a structure optimization method based on natural frequency and comprehensive sensitivity indicators is put forward. The WPT with 8-beam elastic body is used for the finite element modeling （FEM）, in which the fol- lowing variations are taken into consideration： the con- nection type of elastic body with modified rim, the number of connection holes, and the respects of strain beam including the shape, the cross sectional area and the length, etc.. The test results shows that the natural frequency of the connecting block type is increased by 65.5% compared with the connecting seat type of elastic body ＆ modified rim, and the main channel sensitivity is improved as well. The results show that the connecting block type will achieve the best comprehensive performance when the number of connecting holes between the elastic body and the modified rim is 20. And the thinner and longer strain beam with smaller cross section area is preferable within the scope of elastic body mechanical strength. This research proposes a novel structure optimization method for WFT which contributes to improve the measurement performance of WFT.

Measured dynamic load distribution within the in situ axlebox bearing of high-speed trains under polygonal wheel–rail excitation

The dynamic load distribution within in-service axlebox bearings of high-speed trains is crucial for the fatigue reliability assessment and forward design of axlebox bearings. This paper presents an in situ measurement of the dynamic load distribution in the four rows of two axlebox bearings on a bogie wheelset of a high-speed train under polygonal wheel–rail excitation. The measurement employed an improved strain-based method to measure the dynamic radial load distribution of roller bearings. The four rows of two axlebox bearings on a wheelset exhibited different ranges of loaded zones and different means of distributed loads. Besides, the mean value and standard deviation of measured roller–raceway contact loads showed non-monotonic variations with the frequency of wheel–rail excitation. The fatigue life of the four bearing rows under polygonal wheel–rail excitation was quantitatively predicted by compiling the measured roller–raceway contact load spectra of the most loaded position and considering the load spectra as input.

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.

Prediction of Grinding Force by an Electroplated Grinding Wheel with Orderly-Micro-Grooves

The ability to predict a grinding force is important to control,monitor,and optimize the grinding process.Few theoretical models were developed to predict grinding forces when a structured wheel was used in a grinding process.This paper aimed to establish a single-grit cutting force model to predict the ploughing,friction and cutting forces in a grinding process.It took into the consideration of actual topography of the grinding wheel,and a theoretical grinding force model for grinding hardened AISI 52100 by the wheel with orderly-micro-grooves was proposed.The model was innovative in the sense that it represented the random thickness of undeformed chips by a probabilistic expression,and it reflected the microstructure characteristics of the structured wheel explicitly.Note that the microstructure depended on the randomness of the protruding heights and distribution density of the grits over the wheel.The proposed force prediction model was validated by surface grinding experiments,and the results showed(1)a good agreement of the predicted and measured forces and(2)a good agreement of the changes of the grinding forces along with the changes of grinding parameters in the prediction model and experiments.This research proposed a theoretical grinding force model of an electroplated grinding wheel with orderly-micro-grooves which is accurate,reliable and effective in predicting grinding forces.

Experimental Study on Grinding Force of Electrostatic Coated Grinding Wheel

In order to deal with the hard machining of TC4 alloy,coated graphite on grinding wheel surface by electrostatic device is proposed in this paper.This paper mainly completed the design of graphite electrostatic spraying grinding wheel device,force experimental analysis of grinding TC4 alloy with coated graphite grinding wheel,and summary of the influence of different grinding speeds and grinding depths on grinding force and grinding force ratio.The experimental results show that the lubrication coating can reduce the grinding force and grinding force ratio in the process of grinding TC4 alloy with graphite powder-coated wheel under electrostatic field force,compared to dry grinding with the uncoated wheel.