1975 · 25 citations · 0 references
Railway TrafficEngineeringRail TransportRail ProfilesMechanical EngineeringMechatronicsMechanical SystemsCivil EngineeringVehicle DynamicRail Head ProfilesNonlinear Mechanical SystemTrain ControlStructural OptimizationKinematicsStructural MechanicsVibration ControlTransportation EngineeringActual Wheel
The wheel/rail geometric constraint relationships for actual wheel and rail profiles are generally nonlinear functions of wheelset lateral displacement. Two of these relationships which strongly influence the lateral dynamics of railway vehicles are the effective conicity and gravitational stiffness. An algorithm for the digital computer is presented that calculates these nonlinear relationships for arbitrary wheel and rail head profiles. An experimental apparatus was developed to determine the location of the wheel/rail contact points as a function of wheelset lateral displacement for arbitrary profiles. Experimental data obtained with this apparatus are presented for various cases which validate the results of the analytical procedure.