Introduction

The test rig has been conceived and designed to apply appropriate loads to a generic full-scale railway bogie and allow for the direct measurement of the components of the contact forces exchanged between wheel and rail, the point of contact, etc., by means of a suitable dynamometric balance system.

Technical features

The prototype is composed by two main parts: the base and the frame. The base is a planar rectangular structure with some beam elements mounting the two rails. Each rail is divided in three segments. Two segments are fixed on the base once the bogie under investigation is placed in the test rig. A regulation of the distance between the two rails (gauge) is allowed. The central segment instead is able to move during the railway bogie test. These “mobile” segments are mounted on two 7-components dynamometric balances. During the tests the bogie is placed on the rails with two wheels of the same wheelset on the “mobile” segments. Therefore, the two balances measure the contact forces between the wheels and the rails while the operating condition loads are applied to the bogie by means of the actuators mounted on the upper frame, whether they be loads from the body (vertical loads, lateral loads, load transfers, etc.) or longitudinal and lateral loads applied at rail height

Possible Applications

• Testing railway bogies;
• Measures wheel-rail contact forces;

Advantages

• Applies a more realistic set of loads to the whole railway bogie by means of a suitable dynamometric balance system;
• Can simulate all loads, which the car-body applies to the bogie during the normal operating conditions;