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 uninterruptable power supply technology for auxiliary winding of electric locomotive while passing the neutral section

Purpose–Auxiliary power system is an indispensable part of the train;the auxiliary systems of both electric locomotives and EMUs mainly are powered by one of the two ways,which are either from auxiliary windings of traction transformers or from DC-link voltage of traction converters.Powered by DC-link voltage of traction converters,the auxiliary systems were maintained of uninterruptable power supply with energy from electric braking.Meanwhile,powered by traction transformers,the auxiliary systems were always out of power while passing the neutral section of power supply grid and control system is powered by battery at this time.Design/methodology/approach–Uninterrupted power supply of auxiliary power system powered by auxiliary winding of traction transformer was studied.Failure reasons why previous solutions cannot be realized are analyzed.An uninterruptable power supply scheme for the auxiliary systems powered by auxiliary windings of traction transformers is proposed in this paper.The validity of the proposed scheme is verified by simulation and experimental results and on-site operation of an upgraded HXD3C type locomotive.This scheme is attractive for upgrading practical locomotives with the auxiliary systems powered by auxiliary windings of traction transformers.Findings–This scheme regenerates braking power supplied to auxiliary windings of traction transformers while a locomotive runs in the neutral section of the power supply grid.Control objectives of uninterrupted power supply technology are proposed,which are no overvoltage,no overcurrent and uninterrupted power supply.Originality/value–The control strategies of the scheme ensure both overvoltage free and inrush current free when a locomotive enters or leaves the neutral section.Furthermore,this scheme is cost low by employing updated control strategy of software and add both the two current sensors and two connection wires of hardware.

Design and analysis of an electric-locomotive turning system for coal mines

We describe a system for turning the accumulator electric locomotives used in coal mines. This improves transport efficiency and decreases mine construction and production costs. The operating requirements, principles, working features and transmission system are discussed. This system has a simple structure and can be manufactured, transported and assembled easily. It, therefore, can handle accumulator locomotives of middle and small size.

A novel speed sensor-less direct torque control system for mining locomotive haulage

A novel speed sensor-less direct torque control induction motor drive system for the mining locomotive haulage is presented in the paper. Rotor speed identification is based on the model reference adaptive control theory with neural network using back propagation algorithm. The system is implemented using a real-time TMS320F240 digital signal processor. The simulation study and experiment results indicate that the suggested system has good performance.

Air Compressor Control System for Energy Saving in Locomotive Service Plant

The actuality and disadvantages of traditional high power asynchronism motor drive air compressor in locomotive ser-vice plant are discussed. In order to reduce the energy consumption and obtain safe running, a variable frequency con-trol method to the motor is supplied. A PLC with touch screen is used for monitoring the status of the compressor and its control system. It also presents energy consumption analysis caused by the variable frequency control method in a locomotive service plant.

Typical faults and safety analysis of brake controller for AC locomotive

Purpose–The brake controller is a key component of the locomotive brake system.It is essential to study its safety.Design/methodology/approach–This paper summarizes and analyzes typical faults of the brake controller,and proposes four categories of faults:position sensor faults,microswitch faults,mechanical faults and communication faults.Suggestions and methods for improving the safety of the brake controller are also presented.Findings–In this paper,a self-judgment and self-learning dynamic calibration method is proposed,which integrates the linear error of the sensor and the manufacturing and assembly errors of the brake controller to solve the output drift.This paper also proposes a logic for diagnosing and handling microswitch faults.Suggestions are proposed for other faults of brake controller.Originality/value–The methods proposed in this paper can greatly improve the usability of the brake controller and reduce the failure rate.

Multimode Design and Analysis of an Integrated Leg-Arm Quadruped Robot with Deployable Characteristics

To improve locomotion and operation integration, this paper presents an integrated leg-arm quadruped robot(ILQR) that has a reconfigurable joint. First, the reconfigurable joint is designed and assembled at the end of the legarm chain. When the robot performs a task, reconfigurable configuration and mode switching can be achieved using this joint. In contrast from traditional quadruped robots, this robot can stack in a designated area to optimize the occupied volume in a nonworking state. Kinematics modeling and dynamics modeling are established to evaluate the mechanical properties for multiple modes. All working modes of the robot are classified, which can be defined as deployable mode, locomotion mode and operation mode. Based on the stability margin and mechanical modeling, switching analysis and evaluation between each mode is carried out. Finally, the prototype experimental results verify the function realization and switching stability of multimode and provide a design method to integrate and perform multimode for quadruped robots with deployable characteristics.

Stepping up after spinal cord injury:negotiating an obstacle during walking

Every day walking consists of frequent voluntary modifications in the gait pattern to negotiate obstacles.After spinal cord injury,stepping over an obstacle becomes challenging.Stepping over an obstacle requires sensorimotor transformations in several structures of the brain,including the parietal cortex,premotor cortex,and motor cortex.Sensory information and planning are transformed into motor commands,which are sent from the motor cortex to spinal neuronal circuits to alter limb trajectory,coordinate the limbs,and maintain balance.After spinal cord injury,bidirectional communication between the brain and spinal cord is disrupted and animals,including humans,fail to voluntarily modify limb trajectory to step over an obstacle.Therefore,in this review,we discuss the neuromechanical control of stepping over an obstacle,why it fails after spinal cord injury,and how it recovers to a certain extent.

Canine Myofascial Kinetic Lines: A Descriptive Dissection Study Including Related Function and Locomotion and Comparison of the Human and Equine Myofascial Kinetic Lines

Aim: This dissection study was conducted to verify if the Myofascial kinetic lines, outlined in detail in humans and recently documented in horses, were present in dogs. These dynamic lines present rows of interconnected muscles, myofascia and other fascia structures, which influence the biomechanics of the spine and limbs. Methods: Forty-two dogs of different breeds and genders were dissected, imaged, and videoed. Results: Similar kinetic lines were verified in the dog, as described in humans and horses, and additionally, three new branches of the lines were discovered. The kinetic lines described were three superficial lines: Dorsal, Ventral, and Lateral, which all started in the hindlimb and ended in the temporal and occipital regions. These lines act respectively in spinal extension, flexion, and lateral flexion. Three profound lines, which started in the tail and ended in the head. The Deep Dorsal Line followed the transversospinal myofascia. The Deep Ventral Line showed an additional start deep in the medial hind limb, continued in the hypaxial myofascia, and enveloped all the viscera. Also, the Deep Lateral Line started in the hindlimb but parted along the trunk in the deep lateral myofascial structures. Two helical lines crossed the midline two or three times and served to rotate the spine. The Functional Line established a sling from the axilla to the contralateral stifle and presented a new ipsilateral branch. The Spiral Line connected the head and the ipsilateral tarsus and additionally presented a new straight branch. The four front limb lines describe their motion: the Front Limb Protraction and Retraction, Adduction, and Abduction Lines. Conclusion: The canine lines mirrored the equine and human lines with exceptions due to differences in anatomy, foot posture, lumbosacral flexibility, and their biomechanical constitution as predator versus prey animals. Additionally, three new canine branches were verified and described.

An optimization algorithm for locomotive secondary spring load adjustment based on artificial immune

In order to control the locomotive wheel(axle) load distribution, a shimming process to adjust the locomotive secondary spring loads was heretofore developed. An immune dominance clonal selection multi-objective algorithm based on the artificial immune system was presented to further improve the performance of the optimization algorithm for locomotive secondary spring load adjustment, especially to solve the lack of control on the output shim quantity. The algorithm was designed into a two-level optimization structure according to the preferences of the problem, and the priori knowledge of the problem was used as the immune dominance. Experiments on various types of locomotives show that owing to the novel algorithm, the shim quantity is cut down by 30% 60% and the calculation time is about 90% less while the secondary spring load distribution is controlled on the same level as before. The application of this optimization algorithm can significantly improve the availability and efficiency of the secondary spring adjustment process.

An algorithm to remove noise from locomotive bearing vibration signal based on self-adaptive EEMD filter

An improved ensemble empirical mode decomposition(EEMD) algorithm is described in this work, in which the sifting and ensemble number are self-adaptive. In particular, the new algorithm can effectively avoid the mode mixing problem. The algorithm has been validated with a simulation signal and locomotive bearing vibration signal. The results show that the proposed self-adaptive EEMD algorithm has a better filtering performance compared with the conventional EEMD. The filter results further show that the feature of the signal can be distinguished clearly with the proposed algorithm, which implies that the fault characteristics of the locomotive bearing can be detected successfully.

Dynamic performance of six-axle locomotive subjected to asymmetric brake shoe forces

To research the influence of asymmetric brake shoe forces(ABSF)induced by braking failure on the dynamic performance of six-axle locomotive,the static equilibrium model of three-axle bogie and dynamic model for locomotive are established.The coupling vibration equations of axle hung motor and wheelset are derived.For the air braking,the influence mechanism of ABSF on the wheel-rail asymmetric motion and force characteristics are discussed.It can be found that if the ABSF is applied in the front wheelset,all the wheelsets move laterally in the same direction.Once the ABSF occurs in the middle or rear one,other wheelsets may move laterally towards the opposite direction.The motion amplitude and direction of all wheelsets strictly depend on the resultant moment of suspension yawing moment and brake shoe asymmetric moment.For the asymmetric braking,the free lateral gap of axle-box could increase the wheelset motion amplitude,but could not change the moving direction.In both the straight line and curve,the ABSF may lead to wheelset misaligning motion,intensify the wheel-rail lateral dynamic interaction and deteriorate wheel-rail contact state.Especially for the steering wheelsets,the asymmetric braking increases the wheelset attack angle significantly,which forms the worst braking condition.

Positively selected genes of the Chinese tree shrew （Tupaia belangeri chinensis） locomotion system

While the recent release of the Chinese tree shrew （Tupaia belangeri chinensis） genome has made the tree shrew an increasingly viable experimental animal model for biomedical research, further study of the genome may facilitate new insights into the applicability of this model. For example, though the tree shrew has a rapid rate of speed and strong jumping ability, there are limited studies on its locomotion ability. In this study we used the available Chinese tree shrew genome information and compared the evolutionary pattern of 407 locomotion system related orthologs among five mammals （human, rhesus monkey, mouse, rat and dog） and the Chinese tree shrew. Our analyses identified 29 genes with significantly high co （Ka/Ks ratio） values and 48 amino acid sites in 14 genes showed significant evidence of positive selection in the Chinese tree shrew. Some of these positively selected genes, e.g. HOXA6 （homeobox A6） and AVP （arginine vasopressin）, play important roles in muscle contraction or skeletal morphogenesis. These results provide important clues in understanding the genetic bases of locomotor adaptation in the Chinese tree shrew.

Utility of “loco-check,” self-checklist for “locomotive syndrome” as a tool for estimating the physical dysfunction of elderly people

Aim: A new concept of locomotive syndrome has been proposed by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association. The aim of this study is to clarify the utility of its self-checklist, “loco-check,” as a tool for estimating the physical dysfunction of elderly people. Methods: Subjects were 1124 community-dwelling Japanese people, 557 men and 567 women, aged 40-89 years. Information about the seven “loco-check” items was obtained from present inquiry sheets. Physical functions were examined by grip strength, knee extension strength, walking speed and one-leg standing time with open eyes. The averages of these test values, controlled for age and BMI, were compared between the “loco-check” (+) group and the “loco-check” (-) group. Also we examined about the trend of decline of physical function, together with SF36 physical function subscale score, as the number of the items chosen increased. Results: Adjusted average values of all four physical function examinations in the “lococheck” (+) group were significantly lower than those of the “loco-check” (-) group (all, p . Also the adjusted average values of the majority of four tests were significantly lower in those who checked each of the “loco-check” items than those who did not, for most of the items. It was also revealed that the more items subjects checked, the lower the adjusted average values were, except for one-leg standing time. It was also the case with SF36 physical function subscale score. Conclusion: We showed the utility of “loco-check” as a simple tool not only for noticing the physical dysfunction of elderly people, but also for estimating the extent of it, except for balancing ability, particularly by counting the number of checked items.

A multi-objective train-scheduling optimization model considering locomotive assignment and segment emission constraints for energy saving

Energy saving and emission reduction for railway systems should not only be studied from a technical perspective but should also be focused on management and economics. On the basis of relevant trainscheduling models for train operation management, in this paper we introduce an extended multi-objective trainscheduling optimization model considering locomotive assignment and segment emission constraints for energy saving. The objective of setting up this model is to reduce the energy and emission cost as well as total passenger- time. The decision variables include continuous variables such as train arrival and departure time, and binary vari- ables such as locomotive assignment and segment occu- pancy. The constraints are concerned with train movement, trip time, headway, and segment emission, etc. To obtain a non-dominated satisfactory solution on these objectives, a fuzzy multi-objective optimization algorithm is employed to solve the model. Finally, a numerical example is performed and used to compare the proposed model with the existing model. The results show that the proposed model can reduce the energy consumption, meet exhausts emission demands effectively by optimal locomotive assignment, and its solution methodology is effective.

Configuration Synthesis and Performance Evaluation Metrics of Lunar Rover Locomotion Systems

A method of topology synthesis based on graph theory and mechanism combination theory was applied to the configuration design of locomotion systems of lunar exploration rovers(LER).Through topology combination of wheel structural unit,suspension unit,and connecting device unit between suspension and load platform,some new locomotion system configurations were proposed and the metrics and indexes to evaluate the performance of the new locomotion system were analyzed.Performance evaluation and comparison between two LER with locomotion systems of different configurations were analyzed.The analysis results indicate that the new locomotion system configuration has good trafficability performance.

Nonlinear dynamic fractional sliding mode control to the motor of mining locomotive

The harsh operating environment and complex operating conditions of the mine electric locomotive affect the control performance of the locomotive traction motor.In order to improve the speed control performance of electric locomotive traction motors,a dynamic fractional-order sliding mode control(DFOSMC)algorithm considering uncertain factors was proposed.A load torque sliding mode observer was designed for the complex load disturbance of the traction motor,and its observations were integrated into the DFOSMC controller to overcome the influence of load disturbance.Finally,the stability of the designed controller was proved by Lyapunov's theorem.Besides,the control performance of DFOSMC controller was compared with integer-order sliding mode controller and fractional-order sliding mode controller through simulation experiments.Compared with integer-order sliding mode and fractional-order sliding mode controllers,the dynamic and static performance of the DFOSMC controller with load observation is better,and it has stronger anti-interference ability.The DFOSMC controller effectively improves the control performance of the traction motor of the mining locomotive.

Analysis of positioning of wayside charging stations for hybrid locomotive consists in heavy haul train operations

Hybrid locomotive concepts have been considered as a step towards converting the railway industry into a green transport mode.One of the challenges in integrating a hybrid locomotive in the train consist is that the battery pack in the locomotive needs to be recharged during a long-haul trip which requires stopping of the train.A typical battery pack requires about 1 h to recharge which is unacceptable.With the improvement in the charging system,it is now possible that the same capacity battery pack could be recharged in 10–12 min which can be a competitive option for the railway companies.This paper proposes a method based on simulation to evaluate the positioning of charging stations on a train network.A typical example of a heavy haul train operation hauled by diesel-electric and hybrid locomotives is used to demonstrate the method by using simulation softwares.The result of the simulation study show that the method developed in this paper can be used to evaluate the state of charge(SoC)status of a hybrid locomotive along the track.It is also shown that the SoC status obtained by the simulation method can be further used to assess the positions of charging stations along the track at the design stage.

Estimation of CO_2 Emissions of Locomotives in China(1975-2005)

Based on annual statistical data collected by the Chinese Railway Statistic Center, the CO2 emissions of locomotives during 1975-2005 were calculated and the emission intensity and its dynamic characteristics were analyzed. The results show that the CO2 emissions of steam locomotives decreased while that of diesel locomotives increased with time, due to the continuous shift from steam to diesel and electric locomotives. The total CO2 emissions of steam and diesel locomo- tives in China decreased from 42.23 Mt in 1975 to 16.40 Mt in 2005. The emission intensity of CO2 from the two kinds of locomotives decreased at an average rate of 2.4 g （converted t kin）-1 per year. The percentage of the CO2 emissions of locomotives to the total CO2 emissions in the sector of transportation, storage and post in China also decreased persistently from 1980 to 2005.

Study on Active Drive System for Colonoscope

The paper deals with active drive system for colonoscope. The system is mainly composed of soft mobile mechanism for earthworm locomotion and turning mechanism based on shape memory effect. The soft mobile mechanism contacts colon wall with air in inflatable balloons, so the robot has better soft and non invasive properties. The turning mechanism can be actively bent by shape memory alloy components. It ensures the colonoscope to adapt to the tortuous shape of colon. Some experiment results are given in the paper.