The random dynamic performances of EMUs with polygonal damages

Abstract

Polygonalization is a typical non-uniform wear phenomenon that affects the performance and comfort of the vehicle/track system. Therefore, the vehicle system performance could be strictly troubled by polygonal damage close to the wheel circumference at the wheel/rail contact. A 3D vehicle/track an EMU type train consisting of 8 coupled vehicles model has been established. The coupled model car body and bogie frame are considered rigid and integrated with the flexible wheelset, rail, and slab track to investigate the elastic deformation caused by the impact load induced by the wheel polygonalization. The flexible track can be incorporated into the multi-body vehicle model using the movable reference frame formulation. Uncertainty parameters are presented, such as passenger weight, wind force, coefficient friction, and suspension variation. The proposed research is validated based on the existing research work and shows excellent agreement. The simulation result deliberated the vertical wheel-rail force, wheelset acceleration, rail acceleration, rail displacement, and slab track acceleration. The results of this study show that as the wheel polygonal damage amplitude increase, the value of wheel/rail normal forces and the dynamic vibrational response of the wheelset axle increase. Additionally, polygonal wear-induced impact stresses may cause the wheelset axle to resonate. When wheel polygonal damage amplitude and uncertainty parameters are corporate into the system dynamics, the maximum magnitude of the wheelset, rail, and slab track acceleration increases. Besides, the train failure degree is comparable to the polygonised wheel harmonic order, defect parameters, and amplitude of out-of-roundness.

KEYWORDS:

• Polygonal damage
• flexible wheelset
• flexible track
• uncertainty parameter
• vehicle dynamics coupling
• dynamic response

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Program 973 of China “Research on multiaxial fatigue damage and structural constraint embrittlement mechanism of wheel materials in complex environments” under contract No. 2015CB654801 and Shenhua Group Science and Technology Innovation Project “Comparative test research on Shenhua heavy duty goods wagon bogie performances” under contract No. SHGF-15-54.