Determination of the dynamic characteristics of locomotive drive systems under re-adhesion conditions using wheel slip controller

To investigate the re-adhesion and dynamic characteristics of the locomotive drive system with wheel slip controller, a co-simulation model of the train system was established by SIMPACK and MATLAB/SIMULINK. The uniform running and starting conditions were considered, and the influence of structural stiffness of the drive system and the wheel slip controller on the re-adhesion and acceleration performance of the locomotive was investigated. The simulation results demonstrated that the stick-slip vibration is more likely to occur in locomotives with smaller structural stiffnesses during adhesion reduction and recovery processes. There are many frequency components in the vibration acceleration spectrum of the drive system, because the longitudinal and rotational vibrations of the wheelset are coupled by the wheel–rail tangential force when stick-slip vibration occurs. In general, increasing the structural stiffness of the drive system and reducing the input energy in time are effective measures to suppress stick-slip vibration. It should also be noted that inappropriate matching of the wheel slip controller and drive system parameters may lead to electro-mechanical coupling vibration of the drive system, resulting in traction force fluctuation and poor acceleration performance.