A Basic Study on Wheel Flange Climbing using Model Wheelset

This paper deals with an experimental study on the wheel flange climbing of railway vehicles, which is a major factor leading to derailment. An experiment is carried out on a 1/5-scale model wheelset of a truck used on a standard-gauge track, which is placed on a roller rig. The lateral external force acting on the wheelset is ramped up until derailment occurs under the condition of a fixed attack angle and wheel-load unbalance ratio. Three parameters, the height of wheel lift, the lateral force, and the wheel load acting on the outer rail, are measured until derailment occurs. From these measurements, it is possible to observe the behavior of the wheelset and to elucidate how the attack angle, the wheel-load unbalance ratio and the lateral external force affect flange-climb derailment. Then, a numerical simulation is carried out using an analytical model based on a single wheelset. As a result, the flange-climb behavior observed in the experiment can be explained theoretically on the bases of the analytical results, although further improvement of the model is desired.