DESIGN STRATEGY FOR WHEEL AND RAIL PROFILES IN ORDER TO DECREASE THE WEAR OF WHEELS AND RAILS

SUMMARY

Relationship between creep force and a slip angle has the same character as between aerodynamic force and an attack angle. The characteristic of creep force is changed according to the contact condition between a wheel and a rail. It is strongly affected by the sectional profile of a wheel and a rail. Old-time steam locomotives which had long and fixed axlebases and big radius wheels had to use flange for curving. Profiles of wheels had little effect on vehicle dynamics in this situation. Now most of high-speed electric cars in Japan use two-axle trucks with wheels whose diameters are smaller than 1 m. Suitable profiled wheels and rails can assure good performance of rail vehicle dynamics, such as curving without flange contacts and high stability for hunting motion.

In this paper a new design strategy of wheel and rail profiles is described. The profiles for wheels and rails are derived by a theoretical procedure like the involute curve for gears.