Development of the Bogie for Reducing Risk of Derailment

Abstract

The authors developed the bogie for reducing risk of derailment. The bogie can control the decrement of the wheel load and equipped with a steering system that reduces the lateral force for the purpose of preventing the flange climb derailment. The bogie frame is composed of three blocks that are cross beam, right and left side beams, and they are joined together via a rotation mechanism in pitching direction. Since the bogie frame can follow the twist of a track by rotating the side beams with the rotation mechanism. The bogie is also equipped with a steering device that is referred to as an “Assist steering system”. It is composed of pneumatic actuators built into mono-links, a mechanical sensor to detect the bogie angle from the relative movement between the bogie and the car body, and a pneumatic valve that works according to the sensing device. The authors confirmed the satisfactory performance of the bogie in the operating speed range using a test line of the MIHARA TEST CENTER.