EFFECTS OF FLANGE WEAR ON THE WHEEL/RAIL CONTACT STATUS OF LOCOMOTIVE

Aiming at solving the problem of serious wear on the wheel flange in locomotives running process, the maintenance records of electric locomotive wheels from Sujiatun were analyzed. The flange wear process can be divided into three stages: an initial wear stage, a stable wear stage and a late wear stage. Different wheel/rail elastic-plastic contact models were established to simulate different wear stages. The finite element method was used to calculate and analyze. The results show that in the process of flange thickness varying from 32mm to 27mm, the contact equivalent stress on the flange is relatively minor, and that the wear rate of the flange is the lowest. When the repaired or replaced wheel running on the worn rail, the standard wheel and the worn rail contact in a bad condition, and the contact equivalent stress concentrates on the wheel the flange leads to a rapid wear of flange in the early running stage. The conclusions can help to design better wheel/rail profiles to reduce flange wear.