On The Issue Of Wheel Flange Sliding Along The Rail

Eugenii Mykhailov1(0000-0002-6667-5348), Stanislav Semenov 2(0000-0002-5236-4557),

Svitlana Sapronova3(0000-0002-1482-1665), Viktor Tkachenko4(0000-0002-5513-2436)
1
Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, Severodonetsk, …..Ukraine
2
Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, Severodonetsk, …..Ukraine
3
State University of Infrastructure and Technology, Kirilivska str., 9/3, 04080 Kiev, Ukraine, E-mail:doc.sapronova@gmail.com
4
State University of Infrastructure and Technology, Kirilivska str., 9/3, 04080 Kiev, Ukraine, E-mail:v.p.tkachenko.detut@gmail.com

Abstract
Rail transport performs significant volumes of transportation work and is one of the largest energy consumers in all
developed countries of the world. Most of the energy used in railway transport is spent on train traction. To improve its
energy efficiency, it is advisable to carry out measures aimed at reducing the resistance to movement of trains. A
special contribution to the creation of resistance to the movement of rail vehicles is made by processes associated with
the interaction of the wheel flange with the rail in the case of two-point contact, when additional parasitic differential
slip occurs in the ridge contact. It is impossible to avoid this slippage without changing the traditional structural
scheme of the wheel (with monolithic production of its supporting and guiding surfaces). The work considers the
kinematics of the movement of the ridge along the lateral face of the rail head during rolling of the wheel of the rail
carriage. An analytical expression is obtained for the approximate determination of the length of the wheel flange
slipping path along the lateral face of the rail head, taking into account the conditions of its contact with the rail. The
features of the kinematics of the wheels movement of the traditional and perspective (with the possibility of independent
rotation of the bearing surface of the wheel and its guide surface) of the design scheme are analyzed. The levels of work
of the friction forces in the ridge contacts of the wheels of different design schemes are determined. The results of the
analysis suggest that the use of wheels of a perspective design in the undercarriage of rail vehicles can significantly
reduce the kinematic resistance to movement and wear of the contacting surfaces of the wheel and rail by reducing the
slip of wheel crests along the side faces of the rail heads.

Key words: wheel, rail top, flange, sliding, resistance to movement.

1. Introduction
Rail transport performs significant volumes of transportation work and is one of
the largest energy consumers in all developed countries of the world. Most of the
energy used in railway transport is spent on train hauling. Considering the relatively
high cost of utilities, reducing their consumption is the most important task for
improving competitiveness and further development of this type of transport. It is
clear that to improve the energy efficiency of rail transport, it is advisable to
implement measures aimed at decreasing the resistance to train motion.
The external forces that make up the total resistance to the motion of a train are
different in nature and causes of occurrence. Therefore, to develop these measures,
their structure and the real possibilities for control the intensity of their effect shall be
determined. In general case, an apparent impedance to the motion of the carriage in
rail transport includes continuous main resistance and temporarily additional
resistance (at starting, due to low temperature, wind, slope, curves, air in a tunnel,
etc.) [2, 7, 8, 16, 17].
When analyzing the significance of components of resistance to the motion of rail
carriages, many researchers have come to the conclusion that the greatest
contribution to the total resistance to motion is made by those related to the
kinematics and dynamics of the frictional interaction of the wheels and the rail track
[4, 8, 11, 12, 18, 20]. Therefore, the most promising areas of research to decrease
resistance to motion are works aimed at reducing these components.
Processes associated with the interaction of the wheel flange with the rail in the
case of two-point contact when an additional idle sliding occurs in the flange contact
make a special contribution to the creation of resistance to the motion of rail vehicles.
Some researchers state that “the value of specific resistance in the curve of the path
attributable to flange friction is about 95% of its total value" [4].
The concept of kinematic resistance to motion was introduced in [11, 12]. It is
caused by the kinematic discrepancy between the geometrical parameters of the
rolling surfaces of the wheels and the kinematic parameters of motion leading to idle
sliding. It was proposed to allocate two components in the kinematic resistance to
motion, namely, differential and circulation resistance. The first is determined by the
spatial distribution of contact forces and sliding speeds in a wheel-rail pair and the
second is the result of group multi-contact interaction of a system of wheels and
wheel pairs with a rail in the course of guided motion in a rail track. Directly
associated with these phenomena such as increased energy consumption to overcome
the additional resistance to the motion of rolling stock as well as the cocurrent wear
of the contacting surfaces of wheels and rails become a serious technical and
economic problem for rail transport.
There is a number of ways to reduce energy consumption for train traction and
wear of the contacting surfaces. The most developed and widespread of them are the
lubrication of the contact areas of wheel with rail, the optimal choice of the ratio of
wheel and rail hardness, the selection of conformal sections of wheel and rail
surfaces, etc.[5, 8, 13, 19]. However, the use of these technologies allows only partial
solving the problem of reducing kinematic resistance.
An important direction for solving this problem may be improving the design of
the running gears of rail vehicle, which consists of optimization of parameters of the
spring suspension, providing a radial layout in the curves of carriages and wheelsets
of the vehicle, improving the design schemes of the wheelsets, for example, the use
of independently rotating wheels, which is the subject of a sufficiently large number
of works, namely, [5, 6, 13, 14]. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the
issues of improving the designs of the rail vehicle themselves. Nevertheless, without
changing the conventional structural design of the wheel (with manufacturing of its
monolithic bearing surface and flange), it is impossible to avoid the above-mentioned
idle differential slide of the flanges along the rails. Therefore, it is advisable to
consider the possible advantages of a fundamental change in the structural design of
the wheel, for example, allowing its guide surface (flange) to rotate relative to the
bearing surface of the wheel around their common axis (hereinafter, the wheels of the
advanced structural design). The authors proposed several options for the design of
such wheels for rail vehicles [9, 18]. Without discussing in detail the peculiarities of
these structures, it shall be underlined that all of them are aimed at reducing the
kinematic resistance to motion during the two-point contact of the wheel with the rail
by decreasing the level of flange sliding along the rail top.
The purpose of this work is to determine the wheel flange sliding distance along
the rail and the possibilities of reducing the kinematic resistance to the motion of the
wheel of a rail vehicle due to a change in the structural design of the wheel.

2. Research results
The wheel motion along the rail can be approximately described by the equations
of plane-parallel motion of the body. Thus, any movement of the same in a
continuously small period of time can be divided into translation motion at the speed
of a certain point of the body and rotational movement around the instantaneous axis
passing through this point.
 Let us consider the case when the wheel rolls along the rail at a constant speed V,
the longitudinal sliding at point A of its contact with the rail is missing and the flange

attack angle is ψ=0 . The following assumptions shall be adopted: the wheel
flange is pressed against the side edge of the rail top with a constant transverse force

F , friction coefficient in the flange contact is μ=const , the contact areas of

the rolling surface of the wheel and the rail, as well as the wheel flange and the side
edge of the rail top are geometric points.
The instantaneous center of rotation of any point of the wheel during such a motion
is the point of contact of the wheel with the rail A. When the wheel is rolling along
the rail without sliding, point A located at the wheel rolling surface moves along the
trajectory of ordinary cycloid (Fig. 1), and point B located at the wheel flange follows
the trajectory of the elongated cycloid [1, 3]. The trajectory of point B on an
elongated cycloid does not have any spinodes. At the same time, there are some
“loops” on the trajectory of the elongated cycloid, a part of their perimeter (Fig. 1)
falls on the flange sliding distance along the side edge of the rail top.

1- cycloid, 2 – elongated cycloid

Figure 1. The trajectories of the wheel points motion of the conventional structural
design

In the case of using an advanced structural design wheel, point B on the wheel
flange when it is rolling on the rail can ideally roll along the side edge of the rail top
almost without sliding moving along the trajectory of an ordinary cycloid (Fig. 2).
 The decreasing of idle sliding in the flange contact determines a corresponding
reduction in the friction forces impact, which will significantly diminish the
differential component of the kinematic resistance to the motion of this wheel.

Figure 2. The trajectory of the point B motion at the flange of the wheel with
advanced structural design

The theory of cycloidal curves based on the fundamental laws of motion of a circle
without sliding was mathematically justified in the works of E. Toricelli, B. Pascal,
R. Descartes, P. Fermat in the 18-19 centuries. Mathematical properties of cycloid in
the field of practical and applied mechanics were also found in the works of H.
Huygens, I. Newton, G. Leibniz, L. Euler, J. Lagrange [1, 3]. Using this theory, let us
determine the sliding distance of the wheel flange along the side edge of the rail top,
the value of which largely determines the level of differential kinematic resistance to
motion.
From Fig. 3, it can be seen that the sliding distance of the flange contact point

along the side edge of the rail top corresponds to a part of

В 1 В 2 В3 perimeter of

CВ 1 В 2 В3 loop of elongated cycloid.

The equations of elongated cycloid in a parametric form are written as follows:

x Б =r⋅(α−(r+ Δr )⋅sin α ) ,

y Б=r⋅(1−(r+Δr )⋅cos α ) . (1)

The length of the arc of a plane curve in its parametric setting in the general case is
calculated by the following formula:
 α2
2 2
√
L=∫ [ x ' (α ) ] + [ y ' (α ) ] dα
α1
. (2)

From Fig. 3, it can be seen that the loop perimeter

CВ1 В 2 В3 of the elongated cycloid

is approximated well by an ellipse В 1 В 2 В3 В 4 . Part of the perimeter of ellipse

В 1 В 2 В3 represents sliding distance of point B along the side edge of the rail top,
which is interesting to us.

It is obvious that length of simiaxis a of ellipse

В 1 В 2 В3 В 4 is equal to Δr

. To determine the length of the semiaxis b of ellipsis, the design scheme presented
in Fig. 4 shall be considered. When the wheel is rolling along the rail at some point in

time t , when the wheel turns, point

В 1 located on the wheel flange reaches the
level of the horizontal line РР passing through the point of contact of the wheel with
the rail А and contacts with the side edge of the rail top. In this case, in order to

point
А 1 lying on same radius ОВ 1 with point В 1 at the rolling surface the

wheels also shall contact with the rail at point

А 2 , the wheel should be turned in the
direction of its rotation at a certain angle α . This angle will be calculated as
follows:
α =arccos( r/ ( r + Δr ) . (3)

Then distance of section А 2 В , which is equal to length of ellipsis semiaxis b

¿

(taking into account that |АА 2|=АА 1 ), is determined as follows:

|А2 В1|=|АВ1|−|АА 2|=(r+ Δr )⋅sin α-r⋅α . (4)
Thus, in the first approach, the sliding distance of the contact point of the flange

with the rail along the side edge of its top is half of the perimeter В 1 В 2 В3 of

ellipsis В 1 В 2 В3 В 4 .
The parametric equations of the ellipse are written as follows:
 y ( α )=b⋅sin α ; x ( α )=α⋅cos α , 0≤α ≤2 π . (5)

Figure.3. Loop of elongated cycloid Figure.4. Design diagram

Taking into account (2) and (5), the ratio for determining the length of ellipse arc
can be written as follows:
α2
b
α 1
√
L=a⋅∫ 1−( )2⋅cos 2 α⋅dα
α
. (6)
The integral (6) is an elliptic integral of the second kind and cannot be solved
analytically. Therefore, to determine the length of the ellipse perimeter part
В 1 В 2 В3 , we use the well-known approximate formulas for finding the length of the

ellipse perimeter L . The greatest accuracy in the range 0 . 05<α /b<20 according
to literary sources is provided by Ramanujan formula [1, 15]:
L≈π⋅[ 3⋅(a+b)−√(3⋅a+b )⋅(a+3⋅b )] . (7)
So, when the eccentricity of the ellipse of ~0.980 (axis ratio of ~1/5), inaccuracy of
calculation is ~0.02 %. The inaccuracy is always negative.
In our case, the length LГ of sliding distance of В point of flange along the side
edge of the rail top along the elementary perimeter of the elongated cycloid loop (arc

length В 1 В 2 В3 ) equals
π
LГ ≈ ⋅[ 3⋅(a+b )− √(3⋅a+b)⋅(a+3⋅b) ]
2 . (8)
In general case, the length LГ of sliding distance of В of flange along the side edge
of the rail top is less than calculated as per equation (8), since depending on the
geometry of contact, as well as the degree of wear of wheel flanges and rails, В point
of flange contacts with rail not when it reaches the level of PP line, but slightly lower
¿ ¿
(line Р Р , ref. Fig.5).

Figure.5. Contact scheme of wheel and worn rail

Thus, the value of length of the wheel flange sliding distance along the side edge
of the rail top LГ along the elementary perimeter of the elongated cycloid loop can be
expressed in terms of the wheel geometrical parameters taking into account the
contact conditions of the wheel flange and the rail:

π
LГ ≈ K ¿⋅ ⋅(3⋅( Δr+ b)−√(3⋅Δr +b )⋅( Δr +3⋅b ))=
2
π
¿ K ¿⋅ ⋅(3⋅( Δr+ b)−√3⋅( Δr 2 +b2 )+10⋅Δr⋅b),
2 (10)
¿
where K is a correction factor depending on contacting,
b=( r + Δr )⋅sin( arccos( r/ ( r+ Δr ))−r⋅arccos( r/ ( r + Δr ) . (11)

In order for flange В point to pass sliding distance LГ along side edge of the rail

top, the wheel shall be turned at angle 2α . Then, the total sliding distance along the
side edge of the rail top per revolution of the wheel is as follows:
2⋅π π
LΣГ 1 = ⋅L Г = ⋅L
2⋅α arccos(r/ (r+Δr ) Г . (12)

Friction work in the flange contact, which determines the value of the differential
component of the kinematic resistance to the wheel motion, is proportional to the
flange sliding distance along the side edge of the rail top;
А Г ≈F⋅μ⋅L Г , (13)
where μ is frictional factor in the flange contact,
 F is the value of the guiding force in the flange contact.
Fig. 6 shows an example of graph of dependence of the total friction work value
¿
АГ in the flange contact per revolution of the wheel on Δr and K at fixed
values F =50 kN, μ =0.25, r =0.475 m.

АГ ( Δr , K )
¿
Figure 6. Dependency graph

So, for example, according to the graph, for values Δr =0.01 m and ¿
K =0.9,

АГ is approximately 4 kJ. Considering that in one revolution, the wheel travels

over distance of about 3 meters, the corresponding value of the total fiction work in
the flange contact for 1 kilometer of the traveled distance under the considered
motion conditions is about 1300 kJ. This value may be significantly less for the case
of motion of the advanced design wheel due to the above features of its kinematics.
The sliding distance in this case is as follows:
LГ ≈2⋅K ¿⋅а . (14)
Thus, the use in the undercarriage of rail vehicles of wheels with an advanced
structural design can significantly reduce the sliding distance of wheel flanges along
the side edges of rail tops and thereby decrease the differential kinematic resistance to
motion and wear of the contacting surfaces of the wheel and the rail.
 It should be noted that the above calculations are valid for the conditions of wheel
motion when the angle of its striking against the rail is zero. At a nonzero angle of
striking, the above ratios may be slightly changed and the clarification of their nature
requires additional studies.

3. Conclusions
An analytical expression was obtained to determine the length of the wheel flange
sliding distance along the side edge of the rail top taking into account the conditions
of their contact.
The analysis results of kinematic peculiarities of wheels of the advanced
construction design suggests that the use of these wheels in the undercarriage of rail
vehicles can significantly reduce the differential kinematic resistance to motion and
wear of the contacting surfaces of the wheel and rail by decreasing slides of wheel
flanges along the side edges of the rail tops.

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