A numerical study on locomotive wheel wear on curved track subjected to adhesion control

Abstract

The wheel wear of heavy-duty locomotives is more complicated than that of other vehicles when it affects tractive force and adhesion control. The purpose of this article is to calculate wheel wear on a curved track using a co-simulation dynamic model of a heavy-duty locomotive with adhesion control. Additionally, the effect of creep threshold, decline slope, curve radius, and passing speed on wheel wear is further investigated. The findings demonstrate that wheel wear can be successfully decreased by adjusting the creep threshold and decline slope of adhesion control parameters. The wheel-rail stick-slip vibration behavior on the curve track can be eliminated by increasing the curve’s radius and passing speed, but the vertical wear at the left wheel’s flange will rise sharply with the increase of passing speed on right hand curve.