Basic aspects of problem of continuous measurement of wheel-rail contact forces

Abstract

The wheel-rail contact forces are the main influential parameters and indicators of quality of dynamic behavior of railway vehicles. Their exact determination has great practical importance in development and testing of railway vehicles. Past experiences have shown that the best way for determination of wheel-rail contact forces is experimental testing or measurement, that can be stationary (measurement from the track side) and continuous (measurement from the vehicle side). When it comes to the continuous measuring systems which are obligatory in many cases of certification of railway vehicles according to the international standards, there is no universally and prescribed technical solution of measuring system. Consequently, today there are a number of solutions of these measuring systems which are mainly based on using of instrumented wheelsets. The aim of this paper is to identify the basic aspects of the problem of continuous measurement of wheel-rail contact forces, and to point out the basic problems that occur in the initial stage of development of instrumented wheelsets. In addition, the aim of paper is to define the main guidelines for solving these problems, which should be an important source of information for scientists and engineers, considering the deficient of literature and publications in this field.