Dynamic investigation on railway vehicle considering the dynamic effect from the axle box bearings

Abstract

The nonlinear load of the axle box bearing and the spatially coupled relationship of vehicles have seldom been considered in the dynamic modeling of vehicle–track systems in recent years. Therefore, based on the time-varying nonlinear contact load of an axle box bearing, a vehicle spatially coupled dynamic model is established. Subsequently, the vehicle–track spatially coupled dynamic model is established by the dynamic coupled relationship between the wheel and rail. Finally, the vehicle wheelset testbed is set up to verify the correctness of the theoretical model. Experimental results show that (1) the vibration of an axle box has a strong nonlinear coupled relationship. The axle box vertical amplitude aroused by lateral alternating load is approximately 0.108 mm, which was approximately 22.2% of the lateral vibration and (2) the lateral displacement and acceleration errors of axle box between the simulation and experiment are about 5.7% and 6.9%, respectively, which validates the theoretical model. The vehicle–track spatially coupled dynamic model accurately reflects the vibration characteristics of locomotives under track irregularity and provides theoretical support for the design of key components, such as axle box bearings.