A new design for low flange-wear railroad wheelset

Abstract

Wear of wheelsets on curves has always been a problem for rail vehicles, it is of great significance to research and develop radial components with excellent curve negotiating performance. The purpose of this paper is to study and design a wheelset with excellent curve negotiating performance to reduce wear on the flange. In addition, the dynamic simulation performance of the wheelset is studied. The wheel is divided into the flange part and the tread part, bearings are mounted between the two, allowing them to rotate at differential speeds, while the tread part maintains a rigid connection with the axle. Modeling and dynamics simulation of the wheelset are carried out by SOLIDWORKS and SIMPACK. Based on the Archard wear model, it is found that the flange wear amount of the designed wheelset is significantly reduced compared with the traditional wheelset. The results show that the structural design of the wheelset is reasonable, has good curve negotiating performance, and can greatly reduce the wear of the flange, however, there is still room for further optimization of the structural design.