Rail Vehicle Dynamics

Short Course Training

Instructor: Mehdi Ahmadian, PhD

Dan Pletta Professor and Director
Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety
Railway Technologies Laboratory
Virginia Tech
(540) 239-1264
Ahmadian.vt@gmail.com

DAY ONE (a.m.) – Rail Vehicle Introduction and Definition

I. Introduction
II. Axis and coordinate systems
III. Vehicle Dynamics components
IV. Rail and Wheel Basics
V. Track Structure
VI. Track Alignment
VII. Selected Terminology
VIII. Dynamic Basics
IX. Rail Vehicle Wheel Configuration
a. S-wheel
b. Wheel flange
c. Wheel tread
d. Wheel throat
e. Wheel material
X. Rail classifications
a. Various types of tracks
b. Track material
c. Track Geometry

DAY ONE (p.m.) – Wheel-Rail Contact Mechanics

I. Introduction
II. Wheel-rail Dynamic Forces
III. Hertzian Contact Theory
a. Contact between two spheres
b. Plastic deformation
c. Elastic (Hertzian) Contact Model
d. Elastic-Plastic Contact Model
e. Can we use hertz contact model for rail wheel-rail mechanics
and dynamics?
IV. Creep
 a. Creep formulation
b. Creep Forces
c. Creep Mathematical Models
V. Wheel-rail contact ellipse
VI. Mathematical models

DAY TWO (a.m.) – Wheelset Dynamics

I. Introduction
II. Single Wheelset configuration
III. Lateral and Yaw Dynamics of a Wheelset
a. The periodic dynamics of lateral and yaw motion of a single
wheelset
IV. Equation of Motion of a Single Wheelset
V. Wheelset Hunting Dynamics
a. Critical hunting speed
b. Nonlinear analysis of wheelset hunting dynamics
c. Which one should we use?

DAY TWO (p.m.) – Truck (Bogie) Dynamics

I. Introduction
II. Truck configuration
a. 3-piece truck used in U.S. Freight Cars
b. 3-piece truck critical components
c. Advantages and Disadvantages of 3-piece truck
III. 3-piece Truck Dynamics
a. Linear dynamic model of 3-piece truck
b. Nonlinear model of 3-piece truck
IV. Selected Parametric Study of 3-Piece Truck
V. Steerable Truck Dynamics
a. Introduction
VI. Passive Steered Trucks
a. Common configuration of passive steered trucks
b. Advantages of passive steered trucks
VII. Forced Steering Trucks
a. Common configuration of forced steered trucks
b. Advantages of forced steered trucks
VIII. Steerable Truck Dynamics
a. Linear dynamic model of a steerable truck
IX. Selected Parametric Study of a Steerable Truck
DAY THREE (a.m.) – Railcar Dynamics
I. Introduction
II. Common Railcar Configurations
a. Common freight cars
b. Passenger railcars
III. Railcar Dynamics
a. Linear dynamic model of a railcar
b. Nonlinear model of a railcar
IV. Selected Parametric Study of a railcar

DAY THREE (p.m.) – Case Studies

• Four case studies are selected to bring a practical perspective to the
discussions throughout the course. The case studies are derived from the
on-going research at the Railway Technologies Laboratory at Virginia Tech.
They are also intended to provide an understanding of some of the
contemporary rail dynamics topics.