Compressed stability analysis of the coupler and buffer system of heavy-haul locomotives

Zhang, Zhichao; Li, Gu; Chu, Gaofeng; Zu, Honglin; Kennedy, David

doi:10.1080/00423114.2015.1023318

Cited by 40 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Many authors addressed this issue, especially considering heavy haul trains. Cole et al 2 showed that lateral force components and impacts from couplers can adversely affect wagon stability and, more recently; Zhang et al 3 proved that the friction between the arc surfaces in the flattened pin couplers plays an important role in the compressed trainset stability and significantly influences the running safety of the locomotives; Ansari et al 4 investigated the effect of load distribution pattern on the overall longitudinal train dynamics. As far as shorter freight trains (around 500 m of total length) are concerned, it is also proven that the longitudinal dynamics of the convoy may lead to large forces exchanged through the buffers and the draw gear during braking manoeuvres, 5,6 which can affect the risk of derailment during the negotiation of S-shaped curves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of train composition on the running safety of low-flatcar wagons in braking and curving manoeuvres

Gialleonardo

Cazzulani

Melzi

et al. 2016

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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Low-flatcar wagons represent a good alternative to freight truck transportation. In fact, the whole truck can be easily loaded on these wagons. However, due to the railway vehicle gauge, these vehicles present a particular design with an important impact on the dynamics of the trainset and on its derailment risk. The present work aims at analysing the dynamic behaviour of the trainset and the influence of the freight train composition on the derailment risk. Numerical simulations have been performed to identify the most critical conditions. Then, an experimental campaign has been carried out to evaluate the derailment risk associated to these conditions

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of train composition on the running safety of low-flatcar wagons in braking and curving manoeuvres

Gialleonardo

Cazzulani

Melzi

et al. 2016

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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“…4 As a key component of a train, besides dissipating the impact kinetic energy that is produced when the trains collide, the coupler buffer has another function of buffering the longitudinal vibration, which improves the comfort of passengers and reduces the damage to the coupler and the underframe. 5,6 Therefore, the crashworthiness characteristics of the coupler buffer should be understood clearly by researchers and designers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Today, there are several types of coupler buffers for railway vehicles such as elastic clay buffer, hydraulic buffer, spring friction buffer, rubber buffer, and so on. 6,7 The existence of initial compression force in coupler buffers is a concern, as it reduces the comfort of passengers. 8 Rubber buffer has the advantage of low cost, simple structure, and good energy capacity compared with other types of buffers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental investigation of the quasi-static and impact tests on the energy absorption characteristics of coupler rubber buffers used in railway vehicles

Yao

Wen

et al. 2018

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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Coupler rubber buffers are widely used in high-speed trains, to dissipate the impact energy between vehicles. The rubber buffer consists of two groups of rubbers, which are pre-compressed and then installed into the frame body. This paper specifically focuses on the energy absorption characteristics of the rubber buffers. Firstly, quasi-static compression tests were carried out for one and three pairs of rubber sheets, and the relationship between the energy absorption responses, i.e. Eabn = n × Eab1, Edissn = n × Ediss1, and Ean = Ea1, was obtained. Next, a series of quasi-static tests were performed for one pair of rubber sheet to investigate the energy absorption performance with different compression ratios of the rubber buffers. Then, impact tests with five impact velocities were conducted, and the coupler knuckle was destroyed when the impact velocity was 10.807 km/h. The results of the impact tests showed that with the increase of the impact velocity, the Eab, Ediss, and Ea of the rear buffer increased significantly, but the three responses of the front buffer did not increase much. Finally, the results of the impact tests and quasi-static tests were contrastively analyzed, which showed that with the increase of the stroke, the values of Eab, Ediss, and Ea increased. However, the increasing rates of the impact tests were higher than that of the quasi-static tests. The maximum value of Ea was 68.76% in the impact tests, which was relatively a high value for the vehicle coupler buffer. The energy capacity of the rear buffer for dynamic loading was determined as 22.98 kJ.

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“…Previous studies have shown that the friction arc surface plays an important role in keeping the coupler stable so that the friction coefficient should be of a high value. 2,8,9 However, for the friction coefficient of the arc surface it is very difficult to set a high value and the value gradually decreases with the increase of service time. Thus, couplers with friction arc surface are easy to occur after coupler jackknifing because of poor friction performance of the arc surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of coupler jackknifing and its effect on locomotives on a tangent track

Guo

Wang

2017

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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Coupler jackknifing has caused a number of derailments, and it is a significant topic that needs in-depth studies. This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of coupler jackknifing and its effects on the dynamic performance of locomotives during braking. A field braking experiment using three eight-axle locomotives was conducted on a tangent track. The experimental results indicated that in-service couplers with a friction arc surface are prone to coupler jackknifing once the compressive force of the coupler exceeds 400 kN. After coupler jackknifing, the coupler angle has a significant positive correlation with the yaw angle of the car body; both coupler jackknifing and coupler angle increase rapidly to maximum values. The contact between the car body and the bogie seriously affects the dynamic performance of the locomotive and causes lateral instability of the locomotive. In particular, the lateral deviation of the coupling couplers generates an eccentric wear on the tail of the coupler. A numerical simulation model is developed to investigate the effect of coupler jackknifing on the running safety of the locomotive. Simulation results show that coupler jackknifing induces an excessive lateral force on the wheelset and increases the risk of derailments and gauge widening. Compared with the existing measures against coupler jackknifing, in this study, an effectively active measure is proposed to improve the stability of the coupler and to prevent possible derailments caused by coupler jackknifing during braking.

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Compressed stability analysis of the coupler and buffer system of heavy-haul locomotives

Cited by 40 publications

References 10 publications

The effect of train composition on the running safety of low-flatcar wagons in braking and curving manoeuvres

The effect of train composition on the running safety of low-flatcar wagons in braking and curving manoeuvres

Experimental investigation of the quasi-static and impact tests on the energy absorption characteristics of coupler rubber buffers used in railway vehicles

Analysis of coupler jackknifing and its effect on locomotives on a tangent track

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