The dynamic motion of a train set will be affected by the change in running resistance as the wheels run over sleepers or ballast. It is therefore important to determine the motion of vehicles in such situations both experimentally and theoretically. A 1 to 10 scale model vehicle was used to perform running tests during which the vehicle was made to collide against model iron sleepers. Further running tests were carried out involving a real single bogie falling onto ballast or a concrete sleeper. These experiments were used as a basis to develop a numerical simulation program, capable of calculating the dynamic motion of a train after its derailment, and computed dynamic behavior of 5 cars after their derailment.
Proper evaluation of the wheel-rail contact is necessary to understand the dynamics of railway vehicles and the causes of wear and damage to components such as wheels and rails. Numerical methods are often used to evaluate the dynamic contact condition between the wheel and rail; however, there are few promising methods for experimental evaluation. It is important to develop a measurement method because the wheel-rail contact is easily changed owing to vehicle-track dynamic interactions. In this study, we used a film-based pressure sensor equipped with force-sensitive resistors to measure the contact area between the wheel and rail during vehicle operation. Using the film-based pressure sensor, we evaluated the geometry of the contact area and position. The validity of the measured contact position is evaluated by comparing it with the contact position based on the cross-sectional profiles of the wheel and rail and the wheelset displacement during a vehicle running.
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