On the Issue of Wheel Flange Sliding Along the Rail

Abstract

Rail transport performs significant volumes of transportation work and is one of the largest energy consumers in all developed countries of the world. Most of the energy used in railway transport is spent on train traction. To improve its energy efficiency, it is advisable to carry out measures aimed at reducing the resistance to movement of trains. A special contribution to the creation of resistance to the movement of rail vehicles is made by processes associated with the interaction of the wheel flange with the rail in the case of two-point contact, when additional parasitic differential slip occurs in the ridge contact. It is impossible to avoid this slippage without changing the traditional structural scheme of the wheel (with monolithic production of its supporting and guiding surfaces). The work considers the kinematics of the movement of the ridge along the lateral face of the rail head during rolling of the wheel of the rail carriage. An analytical expression is obtained for the approximate determination of the length of the wheel flange slipping path along the lateral face of the rail head, taking into account the conditions of its contact with the rail. The features of the kinematics of the wheels movement of the traditional and perspective (with the possibility of independent rotation of the bearing surface of the wheel and its guide surface) of the design scheme are analyzed. The levels of work of the friction forces in the ridge contacts of the wheels of different design schemes are determined. The results of the analysis suggest that the use of wheels of a perspective design in the undercarriage of rail vehicles can significantly reduce the kinematic resistance to movement and wear of the contacting surfaces of the wheel and rail by reducing the slip of wheel crests along the side faces of the rail heads.