Design

Module 3 - Locomotive suspension

Dr Maksym Spiryagin, Centre for Railway Engineering, CQUniversity

Tuesday 20 May 2014

Brisbane

Module 3: Locomotive Suspension

Contents

• Bogies

• Traction drives

• Suspension and its elements

• Active suspension

• Connection between a locomotive frame and bogies

• Steering bogies

• Example of studies on locomotive suspension systems

Bogies

A critical function of the bogie is to improve

the dynamic interaction between the running

gear and the rails in curved sections of

track.

The rail vehicle bogie provide support or

suspension for weight of the upper structure

(above the bogie, i.e., the car body) and

redistributes it between the wheels or

wheelsets through the elastic-damping

connection, and also transmits the traction

and braking forces to the upper structure

and coupling devices.

Three-axle bogie [1] of

a heavy haul locomotive (Goninan, Australia)

1 – sidebearing; 2 – brake cylinder; 3 – wheelset;

4 – traction motor; 5 – axle box; 6 – damper;

7 – coil spring; 8 – yoke for the centre pin;

9 – sand box; 10 – sand trap.

Traction drives

Designs of drives are varied and depend on the type and operational service

parameters of rail traction vehicles, the selected mode of transmission, the

design of wheelsets/wheels and the mounting methods of the traction motor.

The traction drive designs can be divided into two types[1]:

• individual;

• grouped.

The design and parameters of traction drives are often dependent on the

installation designs of traction motors and associated gearing. Three design

variants have found wide application[1]:

• with a nose-suspended traction motor;

• with a frame-mounted traction motor;

• with a body-mounted traction motor.

Suspension and its elements

The following classification by elements can be made[1]:

• leaf spring suspension;

• helical (or coil) spring suspension;

• air spring suspension;

• hydraulic suspension;

• electromechanical suspension;

• dampers;

• combination of several suspension elements;

• active suspension.

Active suspension

Active suspension systems can be classified by their main functions[1]:

• active damping;

• active steering;

• active tilting in curves;

• load transfer between wheels (or wheelsets) and bogies.

Connection between a locomotive frame and bogies

Such connection can be also classified

by elements used as follows[1]:

• centre pivots;

• side bearers;

• links and linkages;

• traction rods.Connection elements mounted on the bogie frame

(EMD GM, USA) [1]

1 – yoke; 2 – frame;

3 – traction rod; 4 – sidebearing.

Steering bogies

Typically divided into two design

concepts[2,3]:

• passive steering bogies;

• active steering bogies.

Passive steering bogies can be

divided into [2]:

• yaw relaxation bogies;

• self steering bogies;

• forced steering bogies.

Steering systems of railway vehicles [3]:

Steering bogies

Active steering systems of railway vehicles [4]:

WheelsetPlacement of

actuatorsDesign scheme Wheelset

Placement of

actuatorsDesign scheme

rigid

between

wheelsets

and a bogie

frame

independently

rotating wheels

between wheels of

“wheelset”

rigid

between

wheelsets

and a bogie

frame

independently

rotating wheels

actuators are

traction motors

rigid

between a

bogie frame

and a car body

independently

rotating wheels

combined solution

Example of studies on locomotive suspension systems

Objectives of this study [5]:

• primary suspension design of heavy haul locomotive;

• influence of varying installation angles of the traction rod on the angle of attack

results for the non-traction and traction modes.

Primary suspension design Multibody model in Gensys

Example of studies on locomotive suspension systems

Results [5]:

• Change of vertical axle loads for different primary suspension vertical stiffness

Example of studies on locomotive suspension systems

Results [5]:

• Angle of attack results for the non-traction and traction modes for varying installation

angles of the traction rod

Example of studies on locomotive suspension systems

Discussion

• varying the values of vertical stiffness change the situation of load

distribution between the locomotive axles;

• changing traction rod installation angle can compensate for steering ability

deterioration under high tractive effort conditions;

• the usage of the total stiffness approach during modelling should be

restricted in such studies because it does not allow an adequate judgment to be

made about suspension behaviour.

Conclusion

• the vertical stiffness might have significant effects on the locomotive traction

due to the vertical load distribution between axles;

• the change of installation positions of traction rods is able to improve the

steering ability in the curved parts of track.

References[1] M. Spiryagin, C. Cole, Y. Q. Sun, M. McClanachan, V. Spiryagin, T. McSweeney,

Design and simulation of rail vehicles, Ground Vehicle Engineering Series, CRC Press,

2014. ISBN 978-146-657-566-0.

[2] S. Simson, Three axle locomotive bogie steering, simulation of powered curving

performance. Passive and active steering bogies, Ph.D. thesis, Central Queensland

Universi-ty, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, 2009.

[3] M. Spiryagin, K. S. Lee, H. H. Yoo, V. Spiryagin, Y. Vivdenko, Active steering control

system of a rail vehicle based on the analysis of the sound radiation, Noise-Con 2007,

Reno, Nevada, USA, 21-24 October, 2007.

[4] M. Spiryagin, V. Spiryagin, Modelling of mechatronic systems of running gears for a

rail vehicle, East Ukrainian National University, Lugansk, Ukraine, 2010. ISBN 978-966-

590-871-5 (in Ukrainian)

[5] M. Spiryagin, C. Cole, Y.Q. Sun, T. McSweeney, V. Spiryagin, N. Gorbunov, A.

Golubenko, Optimisation of primary suspension characteristics for heavy haul

locomotives, 10th World Congress on Railway Research (WCRR2013), Sydney,

Australia, 25-28 November, 2013.