ANALYSIS OF THE TECHNICAL CONDITION OF AXLE BOXES OF FREIGHT CARS

The article is devoted to the analysis of the level of safety on Ukrainian railways. The reliability of wagons plays an important role in ensuring safety. Uncoupling of wagons along the route due to failures of wagon structural elements causes transport incidents and can lead to an emergency. The most common reason for uncoupling a wagon from a train is axle box failures. The conducted studies show that the absolute number of uncouplings of wagons along the route has decreased compared to 1995. But the number of uncouplings caused by roller axle box failures remains at a high level with certain fluctuations. Functional dependences characterizing the change in the number of cuts over time are determined. For a more complete description of the change in the level of traffic safety on the railways, the performance indicators were considered depending on the overall performance of the railway transport. In particular, the number of working park was taken into account. It has been established that over the past decade, in relation to the working fleet, the number of wagon failures due to the fault of roller axle boxes remains practically at the same level. An analysis of the causes of failures shows that the main one is damage to cylindrical roller bearings. This is followed by end mount failures. Attention is drawn to the sharp increase in the number of failures caused by non-compliance with the technology of installation work. This indicates insufficient qualification of the service personnel. Lubricants for bearings have insufficient reliability. Also, a number of failures are caused by damage to the axle boxes. The lack of reliable methods for diagnosing axle boxes failures at an early stage in operation leads to the occurrence of fractures of the axle journals. One of the possible ways to increase the reliability of axle box units is the use of cassette bearings, which have a number of significant advantages.