Condition-based monitoring of wheel-rail interface using a novel multibody twin disk rig model

This paper describes the development of a comprehensive multibody model of the twin disk test rig using the modular approach. The mathematical models for electrical and mechanical components and wheel and rail rollers are implemented using SimPowerSystems, SimDriveline and Simulink toolboxes. The static and dynamic responses of the rollers are measured with load cells and strain gauges. The experimental data show that the creep forces saturate in the low and very low adhesion conditions at the points where the creepages are large enough to give saturation. Also the lateral position and yaw angle are sufficient to capture the key stability and guidance aspects of the vehicle system dynamics. There is a close correlation between the simulated and measured lateral creep forces so the proposed multibody model is validated. The model represents an important contribution to railway condition monitoring techniques and predictive maintenance methods because it can be easily employed in hardware-in-the-loop applications allowing accurate estimation of forces acting on the wheel-rail interface.