Basic Study of Wheel Flange Climbing Using Model Wheelset

This paper deals with an experimental study on wheel flange climbing of railway vehicles, which is a major factor leading to derailment. The experiment is carried out using a 1/5-scaled model wheelset of standard gauge on a roller rig. Ramp input of lateral external force acting on the wheelset causes derailment under the condition of fixed attack angle and wheel-load unbalance ratio. Three parameters such as wheel lift, lateral force and wheel load acting on outer rail are measured until the derailment occurs. From these measurements, it is possible to observe the behavior of the wheelset and to understand how the attack angle, the wheel-load unbalance ratio and the lateral external force affect the flange-climb derailment. Then, numerical simulation is carried out using an analytical model developed for the single wheelset. As a result, the flange-climb behavior observed in the experiment can be explained theoretically based on the analytical results, although more improvement is desired on the modeling.