Lateral Stability Behavior of Railway Freight Car System With Elasto-Damper Coupled Wheelset: Part 1—Wheelset Model

A general model of single rail vehicle wheelset with elasto-damper coupling between the wheels, has been developed as a first step in developing a railway freight truck model with elasto-damper coupled wheelset (EDCW). By choosing different coupler parameters, various stiffness-damper combinations, as well as rigid axle (conventional wheelset) could be simulated. The mathematical model of EDCW has been validated by comparing the model under limiting cases with those of published results for conventional system. In this paper, the results of linearized stability analysis of EDCW model on tangent track are presented and discussed. The investigation showed that wheelset coupler parameters have significant influence on the stability behavior of the wheelset, and there is an optimal coupler parameter which can improve the wheelset critical speed over the conventional system.