WHEEL-RAIL DYNAMICS WITH CLOSELY CONFORMAL CONTACT .1. DYNAMIC MODELING AND STABILITY ANALYSIS

Citation
A. Bhaskar et al., WHEEL-RAIL DYNAMICS WITH CLOSELY CONFORMAL CONTACT .1. DYNAMIC MODELING AND STABILITY ANALYSIS, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part F, Journal of rail and rapid transit, 211(1), 1997, pp. 11-26
Citations number
17
Categorie Soggetti
Engineering, Mechanical","Engineering, Civil",Transportation
ISSN journal
09544097
Volume
211
Issue
1
Year of publication
1997
Pages
11 - 26
Database
ISI
SICI code
0954-4097(1997)211:1<11:WDWCCC>2.0.ZU;2-5
Abstract
Observations on the Vancouver mass transit system suggest that noise, Vibration and corrugation of the rail appear to be associated with clo se conformity between the transverse profiles of the wheel and mil. To investigate this, a dynamic model of the wheel and rail under conditi ons of close conformity has been developed. Previous work has suggeste d that motion of the wheel could be neglected, so the model comprises two subsystems: (a) the rail and its supports, and (b) the contact bet ween wheel and rail. A dynamic model of a continuously supported rail is presented which is consistent with similar models in the literature . Conformal contact has been represented in two ways: (a) as a single highly eccentric elliptical contact, and (b) as a two-point contact. N ovel 'rolling contact mechanics' have been incorporated in both these models. The complete system is closed: oscillations of the rail give r ise to fluctuating contact forces, which in turn excite the rail. A li near stability analysis of the system shows it to be stable under all conditions examined? thus precluding the possibility of self-excited o scillations occurring on a perfectly smooth rail. The model can then b e used to investigate the forced response to existing roughness on the railhead, which is the subject of a companion paper (1).