Investigation of the impact of locomotive creep control on wear under changing contact conditions

Abstract

This paper presents the locomotive traction controller performance with respect to the track wear under different operation conditions. In particular, an investigation into the dynamic response of a locomotive under changing wheel–rail friction conditions is performed with an aim to determine the effect of controller setting on track wear. Simulation using a full-scale longitudinal–vertical locomotive dynamic model shows that the appropriately designed creep threshold, controller, settings can effectively maintain a high tractive effort while avoiding excessive rail damage due to wear, especially during acceleration under low speed.

Keywords:

• wear
• rail–wheel interaction
• contact mechanics
• anti-slip control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

The authors are grateful to the CRC for Rail Innovation (established and supported under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres program) for the funding of this research Project No. R3.119 ‘Locomotive Adhesion’. The authors acknowledge the support of the Centre for Railway Engineering, Central Queensland University and many industry partners who have contributed to this project, in particular staff from RailCorp, Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) and Brookfield Rail.