Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering

Manufacture and Testing of Air Springs Used in Railway Vehicles

--Manuscript Draft--

Manuscript Number: AJSE-D-19-00848R1

Full Title: Manufacture and Testing of Air Springs Used in Railway Vehicles

Article Type: SCI / ENG - Research Article

Section/Category: ENG-Mechanical Engineering

Keywords: Railway vehicle, secondary suspension, air spring, air spring production machines, air
spring test machines, air spring performance tests.

Corresponding Author: Ali Durmuş, Associate Doctor

Uludag Universitesi Muhendislik Fakultesi
Bursa, Görükle TURKEY

Corresponding Author Secondary

Information:

Corresponding Author's Institution: Uludag Universitesi Muhendislik Fakultesi

Corresponding Author's Secondary

Institution:

First Author: Burhan Sarıoğlu

First Author Secondary Information:

Order of Authors: Burhan Sarıoğlu

Ali Durmuş, Associate Doctor

Order of Authors Secondary Information:

Funding Information:

Abstract: In this study, the mechanical properties of the air spring used in secondary suspension
systems in railway vehicles have been experimentally determined. Firstly rubber
recipes with different components were determined for the production of rubber
material, the main raw material of the air spring. Afterward the mechanical properties of
the elastomer material to be used in the manufacture of the air spring was determined
by uniaxial tensile tests and RPA (Rubber Process Analyzer) tests was applied to the
samples obtained from different types of rubber compound. The machines used for the
production of air spring and the test machines used for determining the mechanical
properties of the air springs were specially produced and commissioned within the
scope of the study. Blasting, air tightness, lifting-expansion, vertical spring coefficient,
horizontal spring coefficient and lifetime tests were carried out by using these test
machines.

Response to Reviewers: The requested revisions are discussed in detail below.

1)The literature review is not complete. Some references are not even discussed (e.g.,
3, 7 to 10, 12, 13,…..) and there is no sequence. The first reference is mentioned with
a well-known fact, i.e. suspension systems improve comfort.

Answer: References not cited were canceled and necessary revisions were made to
the references.

2)MSC is not defined in the abbreviations' list. The list is also not clear e.g., Diameter,
or Radius, or Height of what?

Answer: All abbreviations in the manuscript have been reviewed and corrected.

3)Although it is claimed that testing machines are produced in-house, I see names of
companies like Zwick and Montech, which produce testing machines. I believe the
authors used both in-house produced testing machines and commercially available

Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation
 machines but the distinction is not clear in the manuscript.

Answer: ZWICK / Z010 and MonTech D-RPA 300 purchased testers, as well as other
test and production machines manufactured by us. This situation is also indicated in
the manuscript.

4)I am not sure why the air springs used in automobiles are mentioned. There is no
comparison done in this study.

Answer: In section 2.2 Production and testing machines, air springs of railway vehicles
and motor vehicles were compared and explanations were made.

5) The 'rubber prescription' used in this study is never detailed i.e., percentage of its
components is not revealed. Without this vital information, results are not reproducible
by other researchers.

Answer: The rubber prescription table was added at page 13.(table 1)

6) In addition, authors need to provide details and improve presentation on testing

parameters so that the work becomes reproducible by other researchers.

Answer: Test parameters, test details and test results are included in detail.(blasting
test detail page 10, air tightness test detail page 11, lifting-expansion test detail page
12, load-displacement tests and determination of vertical and horizontal stiffness page
12, dimension measurements detail page 12, life time test deatils page 13. In the
results section, the results obtained for each test are given.

7)Several figures are redundant.

Answer: Some figures have been removed from the manuscript(blasting test machine,
confection machine v.b.)

8)The English language used needs a major revision. Even if the technical content
were complete, this manuscript cannot be accepted due to poor language use.

Answer: The English language was completely reviewed and corrected.

Suggested Reviewers: Tomaz Bester

Univesity of Ljubijana
tomaz.bester@fs.uni-lj.si
An author working in this field.

N. Gil Negrete
University of Navarra
ngil@ceit.es
An author working in this field

Hasan Sayyaadi
Sharif University of Technology
sayyaadi@sharif.edu
An author working in this field

Rahmi Güçlü
Yıldız Technical University
guclu@yildiz.edu.tr
An author working in this field

Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation
Cover Letter

Dear editor,

We sent you our response letter and our revised manuscript titled "Manufacture
and testing of air springs used in railway vehicles."

Authors;

Burhan SARIOGLU1, Ondokuz Mayıs University

Ali DURMUŞ2,*, Bursa Uludag University (Corresponding author)

We changed the title of our manuscript as above to match the name and content.

The requested revisions are discussed in detail below.

1) The literature review is not complete. Some references are not even
discussed (e.g., 3, 7 to 10, 12, 13,…..) and there is no sequence. The first
reference is mentioned with a well-known fact, i.e. suspension systems
improve comfort.

Answer: References not cited were canceled and necessary revisions were
made to the references.

2) MSC is not defined in the abbreviations' list. The list is also not clear e.g.,
Diameter, or Radius, or Height of what?

Answer: All abbreviations in the manuscript have been reviewed and

corrected.

3) Although it is claimed that testing machines are produced in-house, I see

names of companies like Zwick and Montech, which produce testing
machines. I believe the authors used both in-house produced testing
machines and commercially available machines but the distinction is not
clear in the manuscript.

Answer: ZWICK / Z010 and MonTech D-RPA 300 purchased testers, as

well as other test and production machines manufactured by us. This
situation is also indicated in the manuscript.

4) I am not sure why the air springs used in automobiles are mentioned.
There is no comparison done in this study.
 Answer: In section 2.2 Production and testing machines, air springs of
railway vehicles and motor vehicles were compared and explanations
were made.

5) The 'rubber prescription' used in this study is never detailed i.e.,

percentage of its components is not revealed. Without this vital
information, results are not reproducible by other researchers.

Answer: The rubber prescription table was added at page 13.(table 1)

6) In addition, authors need to provide details and improve presentation on

testing parameters so that the work becomes reproducible by other
researchers.

Answer: Test parameters, test details and test results are included in
detail.(blasting test detail page 10, air tightness test detail page 11, lifting-
expansion test detail page 12, load-displacement tests and determination
of vertical and horizontal stiffness page 12, dimension measurements
detail page 12, life time test deatils page 13. In the results section, the
results obtained for each test are given.

7) Several figures are redundant.

Answer: Some figures have been removed from the manuscript(blasting

test machine, confection machine v.b.)

8) The English language used needs a major revision. Even if the technical
content were complete, this manuscript cannot be accepted due to poor
language use.

Answer: The English language was completely reviewed and corrected.

Thank you for your interest and effort.

Best regards...
Manuscript Click here to access/download;Manuscript;AJSE-D-19-00848-
Manuscript Revised.docx
Click here to view linked References

Burhan Sarıoğlu1 - Ali Durmuş2

1
2 Manufacture and Testing of Air Springs Used in Railway Vehicles
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4
5 Ali Durmuş2
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7 E-mail address: adurmus@uludag.edu.tr
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9
10 Phone number: +90 532 412 7251
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12 Orcid number: 0000-0003-2487-7344
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14 1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey
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16 2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bursa Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey
17
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20
21 Abstract
22
23 In this study, the mechanical properties of the air spring used in secondary suspension systems
24
25 in railway vehicles have been experimentally determined. Firstly rubber recipes with different
26
27 components were determined for the production of rubber material, the main raw material of
28
29 the air spring. Afterward the mechanical properties of the elastomer material to be used in the
30
31 manufacture of the air spring was determined by uniaxial tensile tests and RPA (Rubber
32 Process Analyzer) tests was applied to the samples obtained from different types of rubber
33
34 compound. The machines used for the production of air spring and the test machines used for
35
36 determining the mechanical properties of the air springs were specially produced and
37
38 commissioned within the scope of the study. Blasting, air tightness, lifting-expansion, vertical
39
40 spring coefficient, horizontal spring coefficient and lifetime tests were carried out by using
41
42
these test machines.
43
44 Keywords: Railway vehicle, secondary suspension, air spring, air spring production
45
46 machines, air spring test machines, air spring performance tests.
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 List of abbreviations
1
2
3 Ø Diameter of Air Spring
4 R Radius of Air Spring
5 H Height of Air Spring
6
7 phr Parts Per Hundred Rubber
8 NBR Nitrile Rubber
9
10 FEF N-550 Carbon Black N550
11 Calcite AY 215 Calcite Mineral
12 DOP oil Dioktil Ftalat Oil
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14 DTDM Rubber Vulcanizer
15 MBTS Rubber Accelerator
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17 TMTD Rubber Accelerator
18 IPPD Rubber Antioxidant
19 TMQ Rubber Antioxidant
20
21 S' Elastic Torque
22 S'' Viscous Torque
23
24
TS 2 The Initial Time (in seconds) of Cross-Linking (vulcanization)
25 TC 90 The Time (in seconds) That the Cross-Linking (vulcanization)
26 Has Been Completed.
27
28 F Frequency (Hz)
29 TS-EN 13597 Turkish Standard European Norm
30 FEA Finite Element Analysis
31
32 E Young’s Modulus
33 CAD Computer Aided Design
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35
RPA Rubber Process Analyzer
36 Montech D-RPA 300 Rubber Process Analyzer Machine
37 Zwick/Z010 Tensile Testing Machine
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39 ASDM D 412 Standard Test Methods for Vulcanized Rubber and
40 Thermoplastic Elastomers
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 1 Introductions
1
2 Considering safety, fastness and economical reasons, it is known that railway vehicles are
3
4 highly preferred for urban and intercity transportation. According to Metin [1], improving
5
6 vibration comfort in rail transport can be achieved by using bogie with advanced suspension
7
8 systems. Bogies are very important means that serves many functions such as suspension,
9
road adaptation and cornering between the rails and the vehicle body.
10
11
12 Suspension systems are of great importance in terms of driving comfort and safety in railway
13
14 vehicles as well as in road vehicles. Suspension systems used in vehicles such as trains, high
15
16 speed trains, subways, light railway systems, trams are divided into primary and secondary
17
18 suspension systems. The primary suspension is located between the wheels running on the
19
20 rails and the bogie; it consists of the spring and rubber chock. Secondary suspension is located
21
22
between the bogie and the wagon. The secondary suspension system consists of a pair of air
23 springs. The material used in the rubber part of the air spring consists of a reinforced
24
25 composite elastomeric material. Natural rubber based material is used as the rubber type. By
26
27 using such a system, high comfort is provided at low frequency values. In addition, vehicle
28
29 height is not changed when the vehicle is full or empty, and a safe journey can be achieved
30
31 due to good shock insulation [2, 3].
32
33
34
Suspension systems have 3 basic structures; they are called passive, active and semi-active
35 suspension systems. Passive suspension systems do not have any control or adjustment;
36
37 system parameters are fixed. In active systems, the power required for the system is provided
38
39 by a hydraulic pneumatic actuator provided by a power supply. Semi-active systems usually
40
41 use a system in which a spring and/or a damping factor can be changed within certain limits.
42
43 In other words, these systems are systems with adjustable passive elements. With the control
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45
unit and sensors, the values that these elements must have can be determined and these values
46 can be changed [2, 4]. Studies on suspension systems used in railway vehicles can be divided
47
48 into two parts; semi-active and active suspension systems. The air spring used in this study
49
50 are part of the semi-active suspension system. In the literature, there are various studies to
51
52 determine semi-active suspension systems, their modeling and design parameters [5]. O’Neill
53
54 and Wale [5], they dealt with the application of semi-active suspension systems in railway
55
vehicles. They pointed out that the semi-active suspension system is simpler in structure than
56
57 full-active systems in that it is more suitable for railway vehicles. For this reason they have
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59 suggested that it is a more reliable system and easier to maintain.
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62 3
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 On the other hand, there are also studies that examine the active suspension system in railway
1
2 vehicles [6, 7]. Mellado et al. [6] in their study, they have studied an active suspension system
3
4
that can be used in railway vehicles. They developed a system by adding various elements to
5 the traditional bogies in railway vehicles and using pneumatic technology. Then, they
6
7 compared the pneumatic system and centering technology of their system with the ones of the
8
9 conventional systems. In their study, the developed system for the secondary suspension
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11 showed quite good results for lateral displacement, yaw angle and lateral acceleration
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13 performance.
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There are also studies in the literature where static and dynamic calculations are made by
17 finite element analysis (FEA) modeling for the vehicle and road system [8, 9]. Li et al. [10]
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19 worked on the analysis of the mechanical characteristics of the air spring to be used in the
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21 semi-active suspension system. In this study, they established a model of air spring and a
22
23 nonlinear FEA analysis was carried out. The experimental and finite element models were
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25 compared and a good fit was observed. Broeck [8] presented a numerical model for the
26
27
estimation of vibrations from railway systems. In their study, finite element calculation
28 method was used to express road and vehicle behavior.
29
30
31 Mazzola and Berg [11] showed the importance of modelling the components of
32
33 the suspension when performing dynamics simulations of a railway vehicle. Focusing on
34
35 the air spring secondary suspension, a process to define an accurate component model was
36
37 proposed based on a combination of laboratory tests and model identification techniques. Six
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39
models for the air spring secondary suspension were discussed and assessed based on the
40 comparison with the experiments.
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43 Above, the studies on the air springs are mentioned. There are also studies on the effects of
44
45 the elastic properties of the suspension systems on the railway vehicles such as horizontal and
46
47 vertical rigid and damping values on the dynamic behavior of the vehicle by Suarez et al.
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49 [12]. Another study on the real tests and the determination of the experimental characteristics
50 of the real tests of the secondary suspension systems is available by Facchinetti et al. [13].
51
52
53 In Mankovits and Szabo’s [14] study where a rubber bumper was applied in air spring, a
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55 contact problem for large displacements and deformations was analyzed. The nonlinear load-
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57 displacement curve was determined. A code written in FORTRAN was utilized for the
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59 analysis of nearly incompressible axially symmetric rubber parts. The Hu Washizu type
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 variational principle was formulated for the Mooney-Rivlin material model. Stability and
1
2 sensitivity analyses were also investigated.
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4
5 Oman and Nagode [15] presented an advanced method for the estimation of air spring fatigue
6 life. Furthermore, their study investigated the influence of the cord angle on the air spring
7
8 external characteristic and fatigue life. The research showed that cord angle had a great effect
9
10 on the air spring lifetime and external characteristic as well. They determined that the
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12 optimum cord angle should be between 40°-45°.
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14
15 Ding et al [16] developed a continuum damage life prediction model with equivalent strain
16
17 range as damage parameter based on the continuum damage mechanics theory and using the
18
third order Ogden strain energy density function. By curve fitting the data of the multiaxial
19
20 rubber fatigue test, the material constants of the model were identified. The model was used to
21
22 predict the fatigue life of air springs and verified by fatigue experiments of air springs. The
23
24 results showed that the experimental fatigue life was 2.02 times of the predicted fatigue life,
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26 meeting the requirement of engineering predictive precision for fatigue life.
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28
29 In another study, Liu et al. [17] developed a non-linear FEA model for hyperelastic material.
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31
The nonlinear lateral stiffness curve was obtained through the calculation of the response
32 characteristics of lateral load and lateral displacement. The calculation results were verified
33
34 through testing data. Afterwards, the verified FEA model was used to investigate the effect of
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36 several parameters of air spring, such as inner pressure, angle of fiber, fiber layer number,
37
38 fiber layer thickness on the lateral stiffness characteristic of air spring, as well as the effect of
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40 angle of fiber on the stress distribution of the fiber layer of rubber capsule; thereby providing
41 the basis for the design optimization and lateral characteristic analysis of air spring.
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43
44 Experimental studies to find the elastic constants of the suspension systems will contribute to
45
46 the theoretical and numerical analysis work carried out in this field. Therefore, within the
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48 scope of this current study the production of air springs in railway vehicles was carried out
49
50 using specially produced machines and devices. The mechanical performances and elastic
51
52 properties of the air springs were experimentally determined and presented together with the
53
evaluation of the results.
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56 The present paper is organizes as follows. In section 2, material properties used for air spring
57
58 and air spring production techniques and constructed new testing machine for air spring are
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60 explained in details. The production of air springs in railway vehicles was carried out using
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62 5
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 specially produced machines and devices. Number of tests conducted by using these test
1
2 machines such as air tightness test, lifting-expansion test, load displacement test and
3
4
identification of the vertical and horizontal stiffness test are extensively described.
5 Additionally, the dimensional variations of the air spring under the effect of loading is
6
7 described and interpreted. The displacement behavior of the air spring under the effect of time
8
9 dependent cyclic loading is also determined in this section. In section 3 where the results of
10
11 performed tests and analyses are provided and discussed. In the final section of the paper,
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13 general conclusions and suggestions are given based on the outcomes and contributions as a
14
15
result of the research conducted in this study.
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17 2 Materials and methods
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20 2.1 Air spring materials and air spring production
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23
In this study, which is aimed to determine the production and mechanical performances of air
24 spring for rail vehicles, firstly, 3 different types of rubber mixtures were prepared and their
25
26 tests were carried out. Hardness and uniaxial tensile tests were performed by taking samples
27
28 in the form of coupons according to ASTM D 412 standard. Uniaxial tensile tests were
29
30 performed using a constant crosshead speed of 200 mm/min at room temperature in the
31
32 ZWICK / Z010 brand tensile testing machine purchased. At least 4 samples were tested for
33
34
each rubber of 3 different rubber recipes.Young's modulus (E), ultimate tensile strength,%
35 elongation at break and tensile strength corresponding to 300% elongation were averaged.
36
37 Samples of 14.5 mm diameter obtained from the mixtures were vulcanized by applying a
38
39 certain angle, a certain torque and appropriate temperature using the purchased MonTech D-
40
41 RPA 3000 brand rubber process analyzer. With this test, it was aimed to determine the visco-
42
43 elastic properties of the prepared mixtures during all vulcanization stages (pre-vulcanizing,
44
45
during vulcanizing and after vulcanizing). Thanks to this device, a simulation of the
46 production steps was pre-applied to the mixtures and according to the test results, the
47
48 elastomer material to be used in the production of air spring was determined.
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50
51 The production stages of the air spring generally consist of the following operations.
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53 Preparation of rubber mixture in mixer, calendering of the inner and outer rubbers in the
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55 calender and coating of the cord spools, wrapping the layers with ready-made clothing
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57
process, insertion of steel wires in bead areas of cylindrical semi-finished products,
58 vulcanization process in press under high temperature and pressure and assembly process with
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 metal components to obtain the final product. The structure of the produced air spring is as
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2 shown in Fig. 1.
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21 Fig. 1 The air spring part and components of the air spring
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24 An air spring consists of different components as shown in Fig. 1. The elastomeric portion of
25 an air spring is generally made up of an inner rubber layer(3), an outer rubber layer(4) and at
26
27 least two layers of cord fabric layer(5) located between the inner and outer layers. The steel
28
29 wires are placed in the mouth region of the rubber part. The angle of the cord ropes on the
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31 fabric layers of the cord was effective in determining the lifting load [15]. The thickness of
32
33 the inner and outer elastomer layers for the produced air springs was 0.9 mm and 1.4 mm,
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35
respectively and the number of fabric layers in the inner structure was 2 and the layer
36 thickness was 1.1 mm. The used cord fabric was a nylon cord cloth with 2 yarn wrappers and
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38 115 warps per 1 dm.
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41 The schematic representation of the produced air spring together with the emergency spring is
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43 given in Fig. 2.
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Fig. 2 The schematic representation of the produced air spring together with the emergency
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60 spring
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 2.2 Production and testing machines
1
2
3 The dimensions of the railway vehicle air springs are considerably larger than the dimensions
4
5 of the air springs used in highway vehicles. For this reason, the machines used in the
6 production and testing of railway vehicle air springs differ from the machines to produce and
7
8 test the air springs required for highway vehicles. The diameter of the air spring in highway
9
10 vehicles varies between 100-300 mm and the length varies between 220-750 mm, whereas the
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12 diameter of the air spring in railway vehicles varies between 420-850 mm and the length
13
14 varies between 220-400 mm. For this reason, it is important to design and manufacture the
15
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vulcanization presses, molds and testing machines suitable to the specified dimensions. It is
17 important to realize parameter changes in the vulcanization pres (such as vulcanization
18
19 pressure, vulcanization temperature, vulcanization period) that performs vulcanization of the
20
21 air spring rubber, structural and dimensional differences in the molds of the vulcanization
22
23 press, clothing processing (the cutting of the cord fabrics at the proper angle which determines
24
25 the lifting load, expansion and blasting performance of the air spring, the supporting of the
26
27
interrupted cord fabrics with the inner and outer rubber, and the fitting of the sealing upper
28 and lower bead area), the wrapping process without the use of a moving conveyor due to the
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30 length of the conveyor band (12-14 meter) which corresponds to the increasing diameter
31
32 values of the railway vehicle air springs.
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35 The test machines to be designed must have different parameters compared to the existing test
36
37 machines which test the air springs used in highway vehicles. The differences in these test
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39
parameters are as follows: The increase in the blasting pressure of the product, the application
40 of the multi-axis dynamic load on the air spring during the lifetime test, the increase in the
41
42 force applied on the air spring and the measured diameter values during the load test and the
43
44 diameter expansion test, mechanical construction changes and the use of different test
45
46 software. Therefore, the production of the air spring to be used in railway vehicles and the
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48 production of test machines are also important. For this reason, the following vehicles and
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50
devices have been specially produced for the production and performance testing of air spring
51 of railway vehicles.
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54 2.2.1 Vulcanizing press and mold
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57 The vulcanization press was designed in such a way that the secondary air springs with
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59 different diameters (up to 800 mm) could be vulcanized in the same press. In order to produce
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 the air spring cylinder of the selected railway vehicle type in the mentioned vulcanization
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2 press, the mold production was carried out. The produced air spring was a rolling type. The
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computer-aided design (CAD) and the real image of the produced mold are shown in Fig. 3.
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18 Fig. 3 Vulcanization mold (a) Computer-aided design image (b) Real image
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21 This mold was suitable for the production of rolling air springs and was used in the
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23 manufacture of air springs with a diameter of 505±10 mm.
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26 2.2.2 Confection machine
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29 The calendered rubber rolls were wrapped on the cord cloths placed at certain angles in the
30
31 confection machine and the inner and outer layers were coated. The anti-seizure steel wires
32 were assemblied to the top and bottom of the air spring’s bead area rolled out of from the
33
34 confection machine. After wrapping and wire assembling were complete, the air spring was
35
36 ready for vulcanization. The air spring produced by vulcanizing in the vulcanization press is
37
38 shown in Fig. 4.
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52 Fig. 4 Produced rollingair spring
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55 2.2.3 Blasting test machine
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A blasting test machine to be used for determining the maximum compressive strength of the
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59 air spring was produced and commissioned. Considering the standards established by TS EN
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 13597 and different railway system manufacturers, it should be remarked that the blasting
1
2 pressures of the air spring used in railway system vehicles are required to be 3 times the
3
4
working pressure or between 16 bar and 30 bar. It was decided to use water instead of air in
5 blasting tests at such high pressures and the system of the test machine should be designed
6
7 mechanically instead of hydraulically since the lifting load increased due to the increase of
8
9 pressure.
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12 The air spring was fixed to the upper and lower table so that the connection distance would be
13
14 175 mm then pressurized water was added to the air spring to explode it. The connection
15
16
distance refers to the distance from the air spring to the bogie plate to which the bottom of the
17 top plate was connected. At least 4 blasting tests were carried out, the average explode
18
19 pressure and standard deviation value were determined.
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21
22 2.2.4 Lifting- expansion and lifetime test machine
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24
25 The lifting-expansion and lifetime test machine is used to simulate the movements that the air
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27 springis exposed to when under the railway vehicle. One of the most important differences
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29 between the air springs used in automotive industry and the air springs used in railway vehicle
30
31
systems is the magnitude of the lateral sliding movement. Secondary air springs used in
32 railway vehicle systems are subjected to side slip between the bolster and bogie when the
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34 vehicle starts and stops or when the vehicle enters the curve. These movements can be created
35
36 by the lifting-expansion and lifetime test machine as specified in the standards and at the
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38 displacement values determined by the vehicle manufacturer's firm. This test machine was
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40 specially designed, produced and put into operation within the scope of this study. The lifting-
41 expansion and lifetime test machine is shown in Fig. 5.
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60 Fig. 5 Lifting-expansion and lifetimetest machine
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 The lifting-expansion and lifetime test machine is a test machine capable of performing both
1
2 air-tightness test, lifting-expansion test, static and dynamic spring coefficient determination
3
4
test and lifetime test on the vertical and horizontal sides. This test machine is also capable of
5 measuring the change in H and R measurements (see Fig. 6) during pressure and horizontal
6
7 motion. The air spring size measurement system is shown in Fig. 7.
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23 Fig. 6 Air spring dimensions, height (H) and radius (R) values measured using the lifting-
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25 expansion and lifetime test machine
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28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40 Fig. 7 Air spring size measurement system in the lifting-expansion and lifetime test machine
41
42
43 The following tests were applied to the air spring using the lifting-expansion and lifetime test
44
45 machine.
46
47
48 2.3 Air-tightness test
49
50
51 The air spring connected to the lifting-expansion and lifetime test machine for the air-
52 tightness test were subjected to a certain pressure with the help of a compressor after the
53
54 connection distance of 175 mm was provided. The connection distance of 175 mm refers to
55
56 the distance between the upper table lower point of the air spring and the bogie plate to which
57
58 the air spring was connected. Following the valve controlling the pressure was closed and the
59
60 air-tightness test was performed for at least 10 minutes. Before the test it was ensured that
61
62 11
63
64
65
 there was no air-tightness in the systems used in the air line, connection apparatus and air
1
2 spring connections.
3
4
5 2.4 Lifting-expansion test
6
7
8
After the air spring was connected to the test machine at a connection height of 175 mm, air
9 pressure from 1 bar to 7 bar was applied with 1 bar increase. After waiting for 2 minutes at
10
11 each specified pressure, the value of the lifting load, the final diameter value and the final
12
13 length specified in TS EN 13597 for the air spring were measured. The starting diameter of
14
15 the tested air spring was 515 mm, the initial length was 154 mm. In the test results, lifting
16
17 load, final diameter value and final length values were determined depending on the air spring
18
internal pressure.
19
20
21 2.5 Load-displacement tests and determination of vertical and horizontal stiffness
22
23
24 After the test machine was connected to the air spring with a connection height of 175 mm, an
25
26 internal pressure was applied to the air spring to create a specific load and it was tested to
27
28 determine the vertical and horizontal spring coefficient. During the test, the air valve was
29
30 closed and the pressure inside the air spring was kept constant. Under these conditions, a
31
32
movement of ±10 mm was applied to change the connection height in order to determine the
33 vertical spring coefficient and a horizontal movement of ±5 mm was applied to detect the
34
35 horizontal spring coefficient. During these test operations, the vertical and horizontal spring
36
37 coefficient values of the air spring were calculated. Vertical load-vertical displacement and
38
39 horizontal load-horizontal displacement values for the determined stroke values were obtained
40
41 and plotted. The horizontal spring coefficient was calculated for the feed rate of 0.1 mm / s.
42
43
When the stiffness values of the railway air spring in the market are examined, it is seen that
44 the feed rate of 0.1 mm/s is sufficient to determine the spring coefficients. It was observed
45
46 that a slower speed unnecessarily prolonged the duration.
47
48
49 2.6 Dimension measurements
50
51
52 H1, H2, R1 and R2 values of the air spring as indicated in TS EN 13597 standard (as shown
53
54 in Fig. 7) were measured using the lifting-expansion and lifetime test machine. The test
55
56 conditions for these measurements were as follows: After applying a specific load to the air
57 spring which was connected to the test machine at a test height of 175 mm, it was exposed to
58
59
60
61
62 12
63
64
65
 horizontal displacements of ±5 mm. H1, H2, R1 and R2 values corresponding to these
1
2 displacement values were measured on the air spring.
3
4
5 2.7 Lifetime test
6
7
8
The lifetime test was made for specific displacement values in the x and y axes in the plane
9 and in the direction of the z vertical axis. Displacement values for x and y axes were ±33 mm
10
11 and ±18 mm respectively and for z axis it was ±2 mm to ±5 mm. On the lifting-expansion and
12
13 lifetime test machine air pressure to the air spring connected to the height of 175 mm was
14
15 applied to 6 bar pressure. The air spring was tested in accordance with the number of cycles
16
17 specified in the standard. The variation of the force and displacement values on the x, y, and z
18
axes were obtained depending on the time.
19
20
21 3 Results and discussion
22
23
24 As a result of the uniaxial tensile test and RPA tests applied to the samples obtained from the
25
26 different types of prepared elostomer mixtures, the elastomer material to be used in the
27
28 production of the air spring was determined. The ratio of the material in this selected
29
30 elastomer mixture is given in Table 1. The graph of the tensile test of the rubber used in
31
32
production is as shown in Fig. 8. Table 2 gives the mechanical properties obtained from the
33 uniaxial tensile test.
34
35
36 Table 1 The composition of elastomer used in this study
37
38
39 Content (phr)
40 NBR 35 100
41 FEF N-550 67,9
42 Calcite AY 215 28,6
43
44 DOP Oil 19,3
45 Zinc oxide 5,0
46 DTDM 2,5
47 MBTS 2,5
48
49 TMTD 2,5
50 Ozone wax 2,4
51 IPPD 2,3
52
TMQ 1,1
53
54 Stearic acid 0,5
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62 13
63
64
65
 20
1

Strength (MPa)
2 15
3
4
10
5
6
7 5
8
9 0
10 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
11 Elongation (%)
12
13
14 Fig. 8 The strength-elongation curve of the prepared elastomer.
15
16
17 Table 2 Mechanical properties obtained from uniaxial tensile test of the prepered elastomer.
18
19 Ultimate tensile Elongation at Tensile strength
20 Young's modulus, E
strength break at 300 % elongation
21 (MPa)
22 (MPa) (%) (MPa)
23 5.94 (±0.37) 15.88 (±0.76) 527.17 (±15.19) 8.90 (±0.18)
24
25
26
27 The vulcanizing curve obtained from the RPA device is shown in Fig. 9. Here S' refers to the
28
29 elastic torque and S'' is the viscous torque. The first time the vulcanization begins, in other
30
31 words the first time crossing begins is called the scorch time(TS 2). This time was set to 41
32
33 seconds 2% of the rubber was vulcanized. TC 90 value indicating the point that 90% of the
34
35 rubber was vulcanized was 1 minute and 38 seconds.
36
37
38 S' dNm S'' dNm
39
40
14 10
41
42
11.2
8
43
44 8.4
6
45
46 5.6
47 4
48 2.8
49 2
50 0
51 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 0
52 Time (s)
53
54
55
56 Fig. 9 RPA curve of the prepared elastomer at 190°C.
57
58
The shore hardness value of the elastomer used in the manufacture of air spring was
59
60 determined as 60±1 and the density as 1.148± 0.002 g/cm3.
61
62 14
63
64
65
 The air pressure applied to the produced air spring is 18.2±0.1 bar with the blasting test
1
2 machine. It is seen that this value obtained was 3 times the working pressure (7 bar) and
3
4
satisfied the condition of being between 16 bar and 30 bar specified according to the standards
5 [18]. Referring to the exploded view of the air spring shown in the Fig. 10, it is seen that the
6
7 cord ropes placed at a certain angle between the layers have a significant effect [15].
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22 Fig. 10 Damaged image of the air spring after blasting test.
23
24
25
26
For the air tightness test, a certain amount of internal pressure was applied by a compressor to
27 the air spring connected to the connection height of 175 mm and then the valve was closed.
28
29 The change in pressure was recorded for 10 minutes and the air-tightness test was performed.
30
31 The change in pressure and in the lifting load depending on the duration is given in Table 3.
32
33
34 Table 3 Pressure and lifting load change during the air-tightness test.
35
36 Time Pressure Lifting Load
37
38
(min) (bar) (kN)
39 0 3.31 86.4
40 2 3.30 86.4
41 4 3.30 86.3
42
43
6 3.29 86.2
44 8 3.29 86.1
45 10 3.28 86.0
46
47
48 According to the results of the air tightness test, the pressure loss value in the air spring was
49 determined to be approximately 0.91% in the test result which lasted for 10 minutes.
50
51
52 As a result of the lifting-expansion test carried out by the lifting-expansion and lifetime test
53
54 machine, the lifting load-internal pressure, internal pressure-diameter value and internal
55
56 pressure-length value changes were obtained and these results are given in Figs. 11, 12.
57
58
59
60
61
62 15
63
64
65
 200

Vertical carrying load (kN)

1 180
2 160
3 140
4 120
5 100
6 80
7 60
8 40
9 20
10 0
11 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00
12 Internal pressure of air spring (bar)
13
14
15
16
17 Fig. 11 Change in the lifting load depending on internal pressure of the air spring
18
19
20
21
Outside diameter Height
22
Air spring outside diameter (mm)

23 540 164
24 535 162

Air spring height (mm)

25 160
530
26 158
27 525
28 156
520
29 154
30 515 152
31 510 150
32 505 148
33 1.03 2.03 3.03 4.03 5.03 6.00 6.93
34
Internal pressure of air spring (bar)
35
36
37
38 Fig. 12 Change in the diameter and height values depending on the internal pressure of the air
39
40 spring
41
42
43 The spring-coefficient values were determined using the lifting-expansion and lifetime test
44
45 machine (see Fig. 5) and the measurement system integrated into it (see Fig. 7). When the
46
47 vertical spring coefficient was being determined, the pressure inside the air spring was 4.821
48
49
bar and the corresponding lifting load was 104.517 kN. At this load value the air valve was
50 closed and a displacement of ±10 mm was applied from the connection height. In this
51
52 situation, the vertical load-vertical displacement values were obtained and the vertical spring
53
54 coefficient value was calculated. The vertical spring coefficient value calculated for a change
55
56 between +10 mm and -10 mm is 810 N / mm and the graphical representation of the test
57
58 results is given in Fig. 13.
59
60
61
62 16
63
64
65
 When the hrizontal spring coefficient was being determined, the pressure inside the air spring
1
2 was 4.820 bar and the corresponding lifting load was 101.561 kN. At this load value, the air
3
4
valve was closed and a displacement of ±5 mm was applied in the horizontal direction from
5 the connection height. In this situation, the horizontal load-horizontal displacement values
6
7 were obtained and the horizontal spring coefficient value was calculated. The horizontal
8
9 spring coefficient value calculated at a change in distance between +5 mm and -5 mm and a
10
11 feed rate of 0.1 mm/s is 210 N/mm. A graphical representation of the test results is given in
12
13 Fig. 14.
14
15
16 114
17 112
18 110
19 108
Vertical load (kN)

20 106
21 104
22 102
23 100
24 98
25 96
26 94
27 -11-10-9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011
28 Vertical displacement (mm)
29
30
31
32 Fig. 13 Vertical load-vertical displacement graph of the air spring used to calculate the
33
34 vertical spring coefficient.
35
36
37 1.5
38
1
39
Horizontal load (kN)

40 0.5
41
42 0
43 -0.5
44
45 -1
46
47 -1.5
48 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Horizontal displacement (mm)
49
50
51
52 Fig. 14 Horizontal load-horizontal displacement graph of the air spring used to calculate the
53
54 horizontal spring coefficient.
55
56
57
During determination of the horizontal spring coefficient, radius and height values were
58 measured on the air spring with the help of the lifting-expansion and lifetime test machine and
59 the measuring system of this machine. The values of H1, H2, R1 and R2 are important
60
61
62 17
63
64
65
 dimensional change parameters affecting the comfort of the railway vehicle during
1 acceleration, deceleration and curve entry. When the pressure in the air spring was 4.82 bar
2
3 and the corresponding lifting load was 101.561 kN, the air valve was closed and the change in
4 the air spring H1, H2, R1 and R2 values was determined by applying a displacement of ± 5
5
6
mm in the horizontal direction from the connection height. The variation of R1 and R2 (see
7 Fig. 6) is shown in Fig. 15 and the variation of H1 and H2 (see Fig. 6) is shown in Fig. 16.
8
9
10 262
11 R1
261 R2
12
Radius value; R1, R2 (mm)

13 260
14
259
15
16 258
17
257
18
19 256
20
255
21
22 254
23
24 253
25 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
26 Horizontal displacement (mm)
27
28
29
30 Fig. 15 Change of the radius values of the air spring, R1 and R2, depending on the horizontal
31
32 displacement
33
34
35 157
36 H1
37 H2
156
Height vaule; H1, H2 (mm)

38
39
40 155
41
42 154
43
44 153
45
46 152
47
48 151
49
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
50
51 Horizontal displacement (mm)
52
53
54 Fig. 16 Change of the height values of the air spring, H1 and H2, depending on the horizontal
55
56 displacement
57
58
59
60
61
62 18
63
64
65
 The air spring having a initial diameter of 515 mm is under ±5 mm of horizontal
1
2 displacement; the radius R1 varies between 253.9 mm to 260.9 mm and the radius R2 varies
3
4
between 253.8 mm to 260.9 mm. As seen in Fig. 15, the total change in air spring radius was
5 measured as 7 mm for R1 and 7.1 mm for R2. The air spring having a initial length of 154
6
7 mm is under ±5 mm of horizontal displacement; the height H1 varies between 151.7 mm to
8
9 155.9 mm and the height H2 varies between 151.3 mm to 155.9 mm. As shown in Fig. 16, the
10
11 total change in air spring height was measured as 4.2 mm for H1 and 4.6 mm for H2. It is seen
12
13 that the horizontal displacements on both sides do not make a significant difference between
14
15
R1 and R2, H1 and H2, which shows the symmetrical structure of the air spring and the
16 stability of the whole system.
17
18
19 The values obtained for the first 5 minutes of the lifetime test using lifting-expansion and
20
21 lifetime test machine are shown in Figs. 17, 18. Fig. 17 shows the change in force values
22
23 along the x, y, and z axes depending on the time. Due to the advantage of the lifting-
24
25 expansion and lifetime test machine’s being a force-controlled machine, it was possible to see
26
27
the change in force values during the test. Fig. 18 shows the displacement values in the x, y,
28 and z axes during the lifetime test. It is clear that after the beginning of the test, the change in
29
30 force values continued steadily and the displacement values remained at the specified
31
32 intervals.
33
34
35
36 x y z
37
38 180
160
39 140
40 120
Load (kN)

41 100
42 80
43 60
40
44 20
45 0
46 -20
47 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
48 Time (s)
49
50
51
52 Fig. 17 The change in force values in the x, y and z axes with time during the lifetime test
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62 19
63
64
65
 1 x y z
2 50
3 40

Displacement (mm)
4 30
20
5 10
6 0
7 -10
8 -20
9 -30
10 -40
11 -50
12 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
13 Time (s)
14
15
16 Fig. 18 The change in displacement values in the x, y and z axes with time during the lifetime
17
18 test
19
20
21 It is seen from the time-displacement plot drawn for the 6.1 s portion of the life test between
22
23 149.6 s and 155.7 s that the frequency value during the movements is 0.5 Hz for the x-axis
24
25 and 1 Hz for the y-axis and z-axis.
26
27
28 x y z
29
30 40
31 30
Displacement (mm)

32 20
33
34 10
35 0
36 -10
37 -20
38
-30
39
40 -40
41 149.0 150.0 151.0 152.0 153.0 154.0 155.0 156.0
42 Time (s)
43
44
45
46
Fig. 19 Time-displacement graph plotted for duration of 6.1 seconds between time values of
47 149.6 and 155.7 seconds of the lifetime test.
48
49
50 4 Conclusions
51
52
53 The development of the elastomer materials used in the air spring of secondary suspension
54
55 systems of the railway vehicles and production technology of these air springs are great
56
57 importance for the transportation safety and comfort.
58
59
60
61
62 20
63
64
65
 In this study, experimental studies about elastomer material to be used in air spring
1
2 production, the necessary machinery and equipment for producing and testing air spring were
3
4
produced and experimental studies were carried out.
5
6 Special test machines to determine the physical properties, mechanical properties and
7
8 performance values of the air springs were commissioned and repeatable test data were
9
10 obtained for the produced air springs. Within the scope of the study air spring produced;
11
12 detonation pressure value, air tightness value, lifting load values, spring coefficient values,
13
14 size changes under load and changes in force values were determined under repeated loading
15
16
of air spring. It is believed that these results will also serve as a reference to the theoretical
17 and numerical analyses of the railway vehicle suspension systems including air spring.
18
19
20 The results of the blasting test were obtained as 18.2 ± 0.1 bar and this value was found to
21
22 meet the value specified in the standard.
23
24
25 According to the results of the air-tightness test, it was determined that the pressure loss value
26
27 in the railway vehicle air spring produced and tested was approximately 0.03 bar %91. This
28
29 value is a good value for rail vehicles with a larger mass than motor vehicles.
30
31
32
According to the lifting-expansion test results, the lifting load increased linearly with the
33 increase of air pressure in the air spring.
34
35
36 At a pressure of 7 bar, the increase in the diameter of the air spring is about 19.7 mm or 3.8%,
37
38 the increase in the height of the air spring is about 8.9 mm or 5.7%.
39
40
41 According to the results of determination of the number of vertical spring coefficient; the
42
43 calculated vertical spring coefficient for a lifting load 104.517 kN, a displacement of ± 10 mm
44
45 and a test speed of 0,1 mm/s was calculated as 810 N/mm.
46
47
48
According to the results of determination of the number of horizontal spring coefficient; the
49 calculated horizontal spring coefficient for the lifting load 101.561 kN, a displacement of ± 5
50
51 mm and test speed of 0,1 mm/s was calculated as 210 N/mm.
52
53
54 ± 5 mm horizontal displacement is applied to air spring; the height of H1 varies between
55
56 151.7 mm to 155.9 mm, the height of H2 varies between 151.3 mm to 155.9 mm. ± 5 mm
57
58 horizontal displacement is applied to air spring; the radius of R1 varies between 253,9 mm to
59
60
260,9 mm, the radius of R2 varies between 253.8 mm to 260.9 mm.
61
62 21
63
64
65
 6.1 s of the life test is seen from the time displacement plot, the frequency value during the
1
2 movements is 0.5 Hz for the x-axis and 1 Hz for the y-axis and z-axis.
3
4
5 According to the results obtained from the dynamic behavior of the system, it can be said that
6 vibrations can be damped by using air spring systems in secondary suspension systems.
7
8
9 Acknowledgements
10
11
12 The authors express their sincere thanks to the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology
13
14 of the Republic of Turkey for supporting this research as the San-Tez program under contract
15
16 number of 00853.STZ.2011-1. This paper is produced from MSc thesis of the first author.
17
18
19 References
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21
22
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33 3. Durmuş, A.; Topçu, E.E.; Kocabıçak, K.Z.; Özyapı, G.; Akar, E.: Mechanical test methods
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11. Mazzola, L.; Berg, M.: Secondary suspension of railway vehicles - air spring modelling:
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21 14. Mankovits, T.; Szabo,T.: Finite element analysis of rubber bumper used in air-springs.
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24 15. Oman, S.; Nagode, M.: On the influence of the cord angle on air-spring fatigue life.
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28 16. Ding, Z.; Li, Z.; He, Y.; Li, X.; Huang, D.: Fatigue life analysis of air spring based on
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32 17. Liu, Q.-F.; Zhang, Z.-G.; Wang, Y.; Zheng, H.-X.; Xie, J.-L.: Finite element calculation of
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35 34 (2015)
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37 18. TS EN 13597, Railway applications– rubber suspension components– rubber diaphragms
38
39 for pneumatic suspension spring (2004)
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
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62 23
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65