Fundamental Measurement of Adhesion Characteristics of a Scaled Roller Rig Device to Emulate Fast Change of Adhesion for Evaluating Railway Traction Control Performance

Abstract

Automatic operation of rail vehicles is required to address the future decrease in railroad workers. However, rail vehicles have control difficulties that hinder automatic operation. Therefore, precise control technology is required for automatic operation. In this paper, we introduce a scaled roller rig that simulates the frictional propulsion of a rail vehicle in a scaled-down form to test the control technology. The device reproduces the pressing force between the wheel and rail with the thrust of a linear motor and can be changed at high speed, thereby simulating the variation of maximum friction force in a reproducible manner and contributing to the study of control technology. Moreover, measurements of the relationship between slip speed and friction force were made on a proposed small roller rig device. Consequently, adhesion characteristics similar to those of actual rail vehicles could be obtained.