Radial Self-Steering Bogies : Recent Developments for High Speed

• Considering the total cost of railway operations, it is important to reduce the deterioration caused to the track by rail vehicles and vice versa. Radial steering running gear, where the wheelsets take up approximate radial positions in curves, is an important mean of reducing rail and wheel wear. They also allow curves to be negotiated at higher lateral acceleration on non-perfect track, without exceeding stipulated limits for lateral track shift forces. In order to run dynamically stable at high speed, the damping of the bogie must be appropriate, in particular the yaw damping between bogies and carbody. Radial self-steering bogies are used on more than 1200 rail passenger vehicles in Scandinavia since the early 1980’s. The maximum service speed of these vehicles ranges up to 210 km/h. Ongoing development seems to confirm that the use of such bogies can be extended into the very high-speed area of at least 250 km/h. There has previously been some scepticism on the feasibility of soft wheelset guidance for higher speeds, in particular with respect to running stability. Although there are some limitations in the performance of radial self-steering bogies, this solution is robust and well-proven since about 25 years. The ultimate future may be a mechatronic bogie, where the wheelsets are guided in the most optimal way through controlled and forced radial steering. Such bogies may be justified if performance is out of the possible range of passive self-steering solutions.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Farkostteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Vehicle Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

bogies

radial self-steering

high-speed

track friendliness

test experience

Vehicle engineering

Farkostteknik

Järnvägsgruppen - Gröna tåget

Järnvägsgruppen - Gröna tåget

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