Control friction on the skate as a method of reducing force interaction in the «wheel – rail» contact

Abstract

The interaction between track and rolling stock and, namely, the reducing of the wear of rails and wheels, is currently an up to date direction in the railway industry. The primary measure to improve the interaction in the "wheel–rail" pair in the countries of Europe, America and Russia is the lubrication of the side surface of the outer rail thread. The question of the effectiveness of lubrication has become very important after experiments on the application of a lubricant material on the surface of the rail head (skating track), conducted on the North American railroads. As a result of the experiments in straight sections, a reduction in the impact force on the track from the wheels of the rolling stock was obtained, as well as a significant reduction in the costs of electric traction and repair of elements of the upper structure and rolling stock. The article presents the results of studies of the variants of the tribological state (the fiction coefficients changes on the riding tracks) of the rail threads and the choice of the optimal way to ensure the best interaction of the wheels of the rolling stock and the rails. The variants presented are obtained by modeling the longitudinal and lateral forces in the software package "Universal Mechanism". Based on the results obtained during the simulation, conclusions are drawn about the positive effect of the reduction of the friction coefficient along the track of the rails on the longitudinal and lateral forces arising in the contact zone "wheel-rail", the safety of applying lubricant to the surface of the rail heads is proved, the possible savings in operating costs from reducing the cost of fuel and energy resources are calculated.