Influence of metro wheel polygonal wear on dynamic properties of wheel-rail system

Based on the finite element analysis software ANSYS and the dynamics software SIMPACK, a metro vehicle-track rigid-flexible coupling dynamics model considering the flexibility of the track and wheelset was established. Taking the low-order and high-order wheel polygonal wear that often occurs during subway operation as an input of the dynamics model, the influence of wheel polygonal wear on the dynamic characteristics of the wheel-rail system at different speeds was investigated. The results show that if the excitation frequency of wheel polygonal wear is in the frequency range of 60−95 Hz, there is a strong linear correlation between the time-varying rate of wheel out-of-roundness and the vertical acceleration of the axle box. If the excitation frequency of wheel polygonal wear is near the P2 resonance frequency, there is a strong linear correlation between the time-varying rate of wheel out-of-roundness and the wheel-rail vertical force. When monitoring the status of the wheel polygonal wear, it can be considered to use the vertical acceleration of the axle box and the wheel-rail vertical force to evaluate the wear status of the wheel polygon in a certain frequency range. © 2022 Central South University of Technology. All rights reserved.