NUCARS Training Class

Section 2 Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Section

Transportation Technology Center, Inc., a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, 2015

NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Brief History:
Kinematic Approach (Kingel, in Germany in 1883):

History/Overview, p2

Pure rolling
Pair of conical wheels rigidly attached to an axle
Disturbed laterally while rolling
y = A sin (wt), where amplitude A is constant
On a tangent and un-perturbed track:
w Speed
w Wheel Conicity

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

BRIEF HISTORY:

-Kinetic Approach
Nadal, in France in 1896:
Pure rolling can not persist
Inclusion of friction due to slippage at w/r interface
Conservative L/V criterion for incipient derailment

Carter, in England in 1922:

W/R forces can not be due to pure rolling
W/R forces can not be entirely due to slippage
W/R forces are due to CREEPAGE!
Creepage is the ratio of the relative velocity between the
contacting surfaces and pure rolling velocity

History/Overview, p3

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

BRIEF HISTORY:

-Heumann
In Germany in 1937:
Effect of effective conicity of a worn wheel on the

frequency of the kinematic oscillation

Wheel and rail profile when worn, approximate to
a circular arc at the region of contact
After certain amount of wear, little change occurs
in the profile shape

Kalker, in Holland in 1967:

Developed a complete analytical formulation for W/R forces
due to creep and included the twist component
His model is considered to be the basis of all modern creep
analytical models

History/Overview, p4

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

BRIEF HISTORY:
Wheel/Rail Rolling Contact Theories:
The two dimensional theory of Carter (1926)

Wheel as cylinder and rail as infinite half space and

found exact solution
The linear theory of Kalker (1967)
The complete theory (Kalker, 1983 - 1990)

For all contact problems of bodies that can be described half

space (program CONTACT)
Most reliable and it never fails in wheel/rail contact
Much slower than various approximate theories of
fundamental significance for validation of other theories
CONTACT Is the successor of program DUVOROL

History/Overview, p5

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics - BRIEF HISTORY:

The British Rail Table Book (1980)

Used DUVOROL to construct a book of tables for
Hertzian rolling contact problems
The Theory of Shen, Hedrick and Elkins (1984)

Creep-force law which is particularly easy to evaluate

Most suitable for all small spin calculations in which only the
total force is required (vehicle dynamics with no flanging)
The simplified theory (Kalker, 1973-1989)
Wheel and rail are modeled by a set of springs
each set consists of a number of small three-spring system
This theory is able to interpret a large number of contact
phenomena
The program for this theory is FASTSIM

History/Overview, p6

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Track Geometry
Forward Velocity

Vehicle System

Force Input
NUCARS
Response

History/Overview, p7

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Vehicle System Definition

Bodies
DOF
Initial configuration
Mass and mass moment of inertia
Modal frequencies

Connections
Type
Connected bodies
Joint position

Piecewise linear characteristics:

Stiffness curve
Damping

History/Overview, p8

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

The Dynamic Simulator (NUCARS):

Automatic Construction of System Differential

EOM:

[M ]{q} {F}

Numerical integration

integrate
{State Equations}

{State variables}

Response

History/Overview, p9

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Analysis of the system Response

RESPONSE

Tangent track

Curved Track

Pitch & Bounce

Spiral negotiation

Twist & Roll

Steady state curving

Hunting

Dynamic curving

Yaw & Sway

History/Overview, p10

STABILITY
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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Analysis of the system Response

PERFORMANCE
Ride Quality

Curve Negotiation
Guidance through creep forces
A measure of slipping of flanging
Steering capability

Vibration environment
Peak-peak accel
RMS values of accel

Hunting
Nonlinear lateral oscillation
Stability as function of speed and amplitude

History/Overview, p11

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Track
Intended track geometry:
Tangent (zero curvature)
Spiral (non-constant curvature)
Steady curve (constant curvature)
Anomalies:

History/Overview, p12

Rail joint related (cusp)

Roadbed and subgrade related (jog and bump)
Track assembly related (combination of cusps,
bumps and jogs in recognizable sequence)
Maintenance related
Faulty tie related

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Pitch

Bounce

Tangent Track

History/Overview, p13

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Yaw

Sway

History/Overview, p14

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Twist and Roll

History/Overview, p15

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Three-piece Truck Curving Attitude

Lead axle assumes
an angle relative to the
curve radial line

Trail axle assumes a radial

alignment to the curve

History/Overview, p16

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Steering Truck Curving Attitude

Both axles achieve radial

alignment to curve

History/Overview, p17

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Hunting Illustration
1

1. No lateral displacement, maximum angle of attack

2. No angle of attack, maximum lateral displacement

History/Overview, p18

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Illustration of Out-of-balance

Under
balance

History/Overview, p19

Balance
speed

Over
Balance

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Methods of Response Analysis

Rock and roll (loaded car)

Maximum P-P car body roll

Maximum sum axle L/V
Minimum W/R vertical load
Percentage of wheel unloading

Pitch and bounce (loaded car):

Maximum W/R vertical load

Minimum W/r vertical load
Percentage of wheel unloading

Constant curving (empty and loaded):

History/Overview, p20

Maximum wheel L/V

Maximum sum L/V
Angle of attack
Wear indices
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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Methods of Response Analysis

Yaw and Sway (loaded)

Maximum L/V truck side

Maximum sum L/V
Maximum car body yaw

Hunting

History/Overview, p21

Minimum critical speed

Maximum P-P axle lateral acceleration
Maximum P-P car body lateral acceleration
Axle RMS lateral acceleration
Car body RMS lateral acceleration
Maximum axle sum L/V

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Methods of Response Analysis

Spiral Negotiation (loaded and unloaded):

Minimum wheel/rail vertical load

Percentage of wheel unloading
Maximum wheel L/V

Dynamic Curving (loaded):

History/Overview, p22

Minimum wheel/rail vertical load

Percentage of wheel unloading
Maximum wheel L/V
Maximum sum L/V
Maximum car body roll

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Planar Rigid Body System

[ ][] []

lz

Fy

lz

x
X

[ ][] []

Fx

Fx

Fy
M

History/Overview, p23

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

General Spatial Rigid Body System

F2

Vector of system configuration

{Q} = {q1 q2 q3 qn}
F1
Matrix of system inertia
[M]=

m1

m2

A dynamic
system
m3

l1

{F} = {f1 f2 f3 fn}

System EOM
[M] {Q}
= {F}

History/Overview, p24

F3

F4

{Q} = [M] 1 {F}

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Yc

j
YB

Yt
i

YB

j
Yt

Pi
CM

Body i
qi

Ui
XBi

Body j
j
CM XB

Xc
Qij+C

Pj

uj

qj

Xti

Xti

Prescribed path of motion

History/Overview, p25

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Implemented Kinematics in NUCARS

Four types of reference frames:
Inertial global frame of reference
Body frame of reference
Track frame of reference
Connection frame of reference
Relative motion calculation across connections:

Stroke
Time rate of stroke

Special wheel rail kinematics

Profile considerations

History/Overview, p26

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Implemented Dynamics in NUCARS

Calculate the connection forces
Solve the decoupled EOM for the vector of
accelerations
Integrate to solve for the velocity and position

History/Overview, p27

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Choice of Degrees of Freedom:

Each body in space has 9+ DOF:\
Three transitional (longitudinal, lateral, vertical)
Three rotational (roll, pitch, yaw)
Bending or flexible modes
Imbedded constraints eliminate DOF

History/Overview, p28

Wheel/Rail connection constraint

Prescribed motion constraint

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Limitations and Assumptions:

Kinematics of rail vehicles are primarily linear:

All relative rotations are small, and small rotation

theory is applicable
Program can not be used for linkage situation
Non-linearities due to small roll rotations have been
accounted for
Modeling of multiple vehicles
Inclusion of very small masses
Three vibrational modes are included
Geometric constraints are modeled by means of stiff
springs
Robustness of dry friction and other nonlinear elements

History/Overview, p29

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NUCARS Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Evaluation Method of a Simulation:

Result interpretation:

Requires experience
Requires relatively good knowledge of the modeling
assumptions
Skills of analysis

Modeling evaluation:

System modeling
Input prescription
Time variable specifications
Numerical stability or filtering

Judge NUCARS validity:

History/Overview, p30

Are the dynamic EOM satisfied in the course of motion?

If FALSE, Contemplate a little more before calling Nick at (719)
584-0573
If TRUE, Go back and search in the above areas

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