Modelling of temperatures during railway tread braking: Influence of contact conditions and rail cooling effect
Journal article, 2014

The temperature rise of wheels and blocks due to frictional heating during railway tread braking along with the transfer of heat through the wheel–rail contact is studied in this paper. In particular, heat partitioning between block, wheel and rail for stop braking cycles is considered. The wheels are of interest because they are a limiting factor for railway tread braking systems. Two types of thermal models are employed to investigate the maximum temperatures over the wheel tread. In a circumferential (plane) model of wheel, block and rail, the heat transfer problem is studied by use of a finite element formulation of the two-dimensional time-dependent convection–diffusion equation. The hot spot phenomenon is simulated by introducing a prescribed wheel-fixed contact pressure distribution between wheel and block. In an axisymmetric (axial) model of wheel, block and rail, the lateral movements of the wheel–rail contact are studied. A general result is that the cooling effect provided by the rail is important when local temperatures on the tread are considered, but not when studying bulk temperatures created in a single stop braking event. Furthermore, it is found from the lateral movements of the wheel–rail contact that slow oscillations result in maximum temperatures over the wheel tread that are somewhat lower than for travelling on straight track (rolling at the rolling circle).

wheel-rail contact

temperature

rail cooling effect

finite element analysis

hot spots

Frictional heating

heat partition

railway tread braking

Author

Shahab Teimourimanesh

Dynamics

Tore V Vernersson

Dynamics

Roger Lundén

Dynamics

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit

0954-4097 (ISSN) 20413017 (eISSN)

Vol. 228 1 93-109

Areas of Advance

Transport

Subject Categories

Applied Mechanics

DOI

10.1177/0954409712465696

More information

Created

10/6/2017