Creep behaviour between resilient wheels and rails in a metro system
Zhaowei Chen, Qianhua Pu, Li Zhu, Wenhao Zhou
Abstract
Resilient wheels are rarely used in metro systems to investigate the creep properties of resilient wheels and rails in metro system. In this study, the mechanical properties of rubber in a resilient wheel are investigated, and the mechanical behaviour between rim and web is examined. Three numerical models of metro trains with solid wheels (SW), linear resilient wheels (LRW), and nonlinear resilient wheels (NLRW) are established. The mechanical properties of the resilient wheels and creep characteristics of the wheel–rail system of a metro train travelling on a curved track are studied separately. The results show that the resilient wheel reduces the wheel acceleration, and that the web acceleration of the NLRW is smaller than that of the LRW. The frequency of the lateral acceleration of the wheels is approximately 20 Hz. The adhesion coefficient and creep of the resilient wheels are smaller, and the adhesion area and contact area of the NLRW are larger than those of the LRW. The wheel–rail contact state of NLRW is improved, and the wheel–rail contact stress is reduced, which is beneficial to the uniform wear of the tread and mitigates the fatigue of the wheel–rail rolling contact.