The stability and mechanical characteristics of heavy haul couplers with restoring bumpstop

To investigate the stability and mechanical characteristics of a type of heavy haul coupler with restoring bumpstop, the geometry and force states of couplers were analysed at different yaw angles and the longitudinal forces. The structural characteristics of this coupler were summarised. To aid in the investigation, a multi-body dynamics model with four heavy haul locomotives and three detailed couplers was established to simulate the process of emergency braking. In addition, the coupler yaw instability and lateral forces were tested in order to investigate the effect of relevant parameters on the locomotive's wheelset lateral forces. The results show that only when the bumpstop force exceeds half of the coupler longitudinal compression force, can the follower be rotated and the yaw angle of the coupler increase. The bumpstop preload is the most important stabilising factor. The coupler lateral force is constant when the coupler longitudinal force is smaller than the critical values of 2000, 1400 and 1150 kN at coupler free angles of 7°, 8° and 9°, respectively, for operation on straight track. The coupler free angle and the locomotive's lateral clearance of the secondary stopper are important in decreasing the wheelset lateral forces of the locomotive. It is advised that a smaller locomotive's secondary lateral suspension stiffness, a free clearance of 35 mm and an elastic clearance of 15 mm from the secondary lateral stopper be selected. If the coupler's free angle is less than the self-stabilising angle which is 5.5° for operation on straight track, the coupler is stable no matter how great the longitudinal force is. The wheelset lateral forces are allowed at the coupler longitudinal force of 2500 kN when the free angle is 6°. These studies establish meaningful improvements for the stability of couplers and match the heavy haul locomotive with its suspension parameters.     

Estimation of wheel–rail friction for vehicle certification

In certification of new rail vehicles with respect to running characteristics, a wide variety of operating conditions needs to be considered. However, in associated test runs the wheel–rail friction condition is difficult to handle because the friction coefficient needs to be fairly high and the friction is also generally hard to assess. This is an issue that has been studied in the European project DynoTRAIN and part of the results is presented in this paper. More specifically, an algorithm for estimating the wheel–rail friction coefficient at vehicle certification tests is proposed. Owing to lack of some measurement results, the algorithm here is evaluated in a simulation environment which is also an important step towards practical implementation. A quality measure of the friction estimate is suggested in terms of estimated wheel–rail spin and total creep. It is concluded that, tentatively, the total creep should exceed 0.006 and the spin should be less than 1.0 m^?1 for the algorithm to give a good friction estimate. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to imitate measurement errors, but should be expanded in further work.     

Dynamic performances of an innovative coupler used in heavy haul trains

An innovative structure for a heavy haul coupler with an arc surface contact and restoring bumpstop is proposed. This coupler has a small lateral force at a small yaw angle and a limitable yaw angle to ensure an allowable coupler lateral force under intense compressive force. The main structural characteristic of the combined contact coupler is a lateral movable follower with an appropriate friction coefficient of 0.06–0.08 and a slide block with a single freedom of longitudinal movement. In order to verify and simulate the performances, a multi-body dynamics model with four heavy haul locomotives and three detailed couplers was established to simulate the process of emergency braking. In addition, the coupler yaw instability and wheel set lateral forces were tested in order to investigate the effect of relevant parameters on the coupler performances. The combined contact coupler is suitable for heavy haul train for a good dynamic performance.     

Influence of tyre–road contact model on vehicle vibration response

The influence of the tyre–road contact model on the simulated vertical vibration response was analysed. Three contact models were compared: tyre–road point contact model, moving averaged profile and tyre-enveloping model. In total, 1600 real asphalt concrete and Portland cement concrete longitudinal road profiles were processed. The linear planar model of automobile with 12 degrees of freedom (DOF) was used. Five vibration responses as the measures of ride comfort, ride safety and dynamic load of cargo were investigated. The results were calculated as a function of vibration response, vehicle velocity, road quality and road surface type. The marked differences in the dynamic tyre forces and the negligible differences in the ride comfort quantities were observed among the tyre–road contact models. The seat acceleration response for three contact models and 331 DOF multibody model of the truck semi-trailer was compared with the measured response for a known profile of test section.     

A lateral driver model for vehicle–driver closed-loop simulation at the limits of handling

This paper presents a lateral driver model for vehicle–driver closed-loop simulation at the limits of handling. An appropriate driver model can be used to evaluate the performance of vehicle chassis control systems via computer simulations before vehicle tests which incurs expenses especially at the limits of handling. The driver model consists of two parts. The first part is an upper-level controller employing force-based approach to reduce the number of unknown vehicle parameters. The feedforward part of the upper controller has been designed by using the centre of percussion. The feedback part aims to minimise ‘tangential error’, defined as the sum of body slip angle and yaw error, to match vehicle direction and road heading angle. The part is designed to regenerate an appropriate skid motion similar to that of a professional driver at the limits. The second part is a lower-level controller which converts the desired front lateral force to steering wheel angle. The lower-level controller also consists of feedforward and feedback parts. A two-degree-of-freedom bicycle model-based feedforward part provides nominal steering wheel angle, and the feedback part aims to eliminate unmodelled error. The performance of the lateral driver model has been investigated via computer simulations. It has been shown that the steering behaviours of the proposed driver model are quite close to those of a professional driver at the limits. Compared with the previously developed lateral driver models, the proposed lateral driver model shows good tracking performance at the limits of handling.     

桩网复合地基桩身受力特性模型试验

以某沿海铁路软土地基处理工程为依托,对桩网复合地基桩身受力特性进行了室内模型试验,得出了桩身轴力随着路堤填土荷载的增加而增大,随着桩间距的加大,桩身中性点下移;桩土应力比随着路堤填土荷载的增加而增大,随着桩间距加大明显增大等结论,为工程设计提供了理论参考依据。     

独斜塔锚固区受力分析

我国斜拉桥中大部分采用预应力混凝土索塔.索塔锚固区域结构受力复杂,是设计的关键.某大桥采用独斜塔,主、边跨非对称布置斜拉索结构.文中采用有限元方法对某大桥主塔锚固区进行了受力分析,以根据应力大小指导钢束配制.     

轻盈换挡同步器优化设计

同步器在汽车换挡过程中可减小换挡冲击和噪声,使换挡平顺。文章以汽车变速器同步换挡力基本方程为出发点,研究了各参数对换挡力的影响。提出了一种新的同步器优化设计思路：通过相对简单的结构优化,自发产生同步辅助力,使得在角速度同步初始阶段同步两端角速度差降低,有效减小了换挡力。对优化结构下的数学模型进行了仿真计算分析,证明该方法有效提高了同步器性能。     

潮汕车站桩网复合地基管桩承载性状数值分析

采用桩网复合地基,对软土地基进行加固处理是十分有效的措施。依托厦深铁路潮汕车站深厚软土的地基处理,利用FLAC3D有限元计算软件对潮汕车站桩网复合地基管桩承载性状进行数值模拟分析,以研究管桩桩身轴力特性及管桩桩身摩阻力分布特性。负摩阻力对桩网复合地基有不利的影响,其增大了桩的沉降量,降低了桩对上部荷载承载能力和桩网复合地基的整体工作性能。在工程设计过程中应充分考虑负摩阻力对桩承载力及沉降的影响。     

穿越运营地铁车站的基坑开挖及对周边环境影响的安全分析

以上海轨道交通9号线宜山路站换乘通道下穿轻轨3号线车站的基坑工程为背景,建立三维数值分析模型,对基坑施工进行全过程动态模拟。分析结果表明,计算结果与工程监测数据基本吻合,下穿轻轨车站的基坑开挖可引起上部车站结构的不均匀沉降。为保护上部车站结构,采用了全方位旋喷加固（MJS）的施工新工艺,首次在相对于桩基如此近距离的范围内把MJS法应用在既有地铁车站正下方进行施工,指出了地基加固体对基坑开挖产生的位移传递具有阻断作用。结合规范要求,在对基坑施工进行全过程动态模拟条件下,通过预测地表和基坑自身变形特征及最大值来分析和评价整个基坑开挖过程中基坑自身结构的安全性;同时为了评价基坑开挖对周边环境的影响,还对上部车站结构进行承载能力极限状态验算和正常使用极限状态验算,得出在相应位移约束条件下的安全状态。对比分析表明,在紧贴基坑地下连续墙的土体中进行二次加固及结构逆筑施工,可有效控制上部车站结构变形。