Citation

Ge X, Ling L, Chen S, Wang C, Zhou Y, Xu B, Wang K. Veh. Syst. Dyn. 2022; 60(9): 3269-3290.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00423114.2021.1942509

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Aiming at preventing frequently occurred coupler jack-knifing in slave control locomotives of 20,000-tonne heavy-haul trains, a theoretical and experimental research on enhancing the coupler stability has been carried out. Field tests are conducted to ascertain the load characteristics of the slave control locomotive, and the coupler stability mechanism of the locomotive is studied. A dynamic simulation model considering the locomotive, adjacent wagons, and attached coupling devices is established and validated. Based on the model, countermeasures for improving the coupler stability are studied. The field test results indicate that: 1) the slave control locomotives suffer from sustained compressive forces less than 1500kN at the braking stage of cycle braking, while the maximum short-term impact force at the release stage exceeds 2000kN; 2) The coupler jack-knifing mostly occurs at the braking stage, and the yaw angles of the middle couplers are larger than the front and rear couplers. According to the theoretical analysis and dynamic simulation results, the coupler stability can be improved by increasing the stiffness of secondary lateral bump stops and reducing its clearance. Moreover, the proposed countermeasure of setting up lateral bump stop to locomotive couplers is proved to be effective to prevent the coupler jack-knifing.

Language: en

Keywords

coupler jack-knifing; cycle braking; dynamic simulation; field test; Heavy-haul train; slave control locomotive