Analysis of wheel wear characteristics of high-speed train based on field data

A wheel/rail profile wear is a factor that affects the behavior of railway vehicles such as riding comfort, running stability, running safety and maintenance schedule. To predict wheel/rail profile wear theoretically with dynamic model of the vehicle-track systems, wear coefficient is necessary and these parameters are generally gained from laboratory test such as twin disk test. It is difficult to gain wear coefficient accurately from field data, because the wheel/rail contact conditions which decisive for wear have big variations. On the other hand, there are railway systems in which vehicles of the same type run on the dedicated track with the same operation pattern. In this case, there is possibility to generalize wear coefficient. In this study, we focus on this point, a large amount of wheel profiles from Tokaido Shinkansen, one of high-speed trains in Japan, was investigated. In this paper, wheel wear characteristics of coupled motion is pointed out and these wear characteristics are attempted to demonstrate from a view point of vehicle dynamics.