Advantages of installation of rubber-metal elements in suspension of railway vehicles

Abstract

During the exploitation of railway vehicles, failures of elements of the suspension are very often. The fractures on the components of suspension are especially characteristic for freight wagons operating in extreme loading conditions. This causes a decreasing of the efficiency of rail transport and very often can cause a derailments with huge material damage and human victims. The task of this paper is to explore the possibilities for improvement of suspension behavior through subsequent installation of rubber-metal elements of simple design. The methodology is based on the identification of causes of failures through numerical and experimental analysis of suspension behavior. These research is basis for design of simple solutions of rubber-metal elements which can be subsequently installed in suspension of wagons. In this paper the proposed methodology is applied on the freight wagons for coal transportation whose suspension is based on laminated springs. Subsequent installation of rubber-metal elements is resulted with prevention of very frequent failures on elements of suspension. Besides, this solution enables reducing of maintenance costs, increasing the efficiency of transportation, and enables many other advantages.