Test stand for calibration of measurement railway wheelsets

Abstract

The paper describes the development of a special test stand for calibration and testing of measurement railway wheelsets. Measurement railway wheelsets are used for testing dynamic characteristics of railway vehicles from the aspect of quiet running and running safety in accordance with the international regulation UIC 518. During the running of the tested railway vehicle the main task of the measurement wheelset is registration and acquisition of data about Y and Q forces which occur in the wheel-rail contact, as well as their ratio Y/Q, which is one of the most important parameters for assessment of the quality of quiet running and running safety. For calibration of such measurement wheelsets a special test stand that allows working in laboratory conditions was developed. The main function of the test stand is to provide the wheel-rail contact, where the rail is enabled by a specially processed wheelset, while the wheel is enabled by the measurement wheelset. For thus adopted concept the carrying structure that allows easy assembly and disassembly of measurement wheelsets was designed. The test stand allows calibration of measuring wheelsets in quasi-static and dynamic operating modes. It is equipped with a driving electromotor with a gearbox, where the regulation of rotating speed is performed by a frequency regulator. In addition, the test stand is equipped with hydraulic systems for setting loads in vertical and horizontal directions, force converters in vertical and horizontal directions, and alpha numeric displays for reading the values of Y and Q forces.