The surface of railway wheels running on rails is subject to damage due to rail and frictional wear, damage from wheel tread and flange wear caused by curved track operations, and damage from flats and concave wear due to braking friction heat from brake shoes. Although the surface of wheels is regularly reprofiled through periodic grinding cycles, damage occurring to the wheel surface during operation can lead to deteriorated ride quality and potential failure due to crack propagation. In domestic railway components technical standards, wheel integrity is mandated to be demonstrated through non-destructive testing. To prevent and detect failures caused by damage occurring on railway wheels, it is necessary to develop methods that could detect and evaluate surface damage. The present study investigated a method for detecting and evaluating surface damage on railway wheels using electromagnetic imaging. Results demonstrated that defects with a length of 10 mm, a width of 0.8 to 1.0 mm, and a depth of 0.2 to 1.0 mm could be adequately detected using electromagnetic scan images.

Damage to the units related to driving and running of the railway vehicle may cause an inevitable accident due to defects and malfunctions in operation. In order to prevent such an accident, a non-destructive diagnostic technology that detects the damage is required. Previous researchers have researched and developed a monitoring system of the infrared thermography method to diagnose the condition of the railway vehicle driving and driving units. A system for monitoring running of the railway vehicle and temperature condition of the drive unit at a vehicle speed of 30 to 100 km/h was constructed, and a study on its applicability was conducted. In this study, a system for diagnosing an abnormal condition of the driving and running units while the vehicle is running with an infrared thermography diagnostic system was installed in the depot and operation route, and evaluation of the abnormal condition of the driving and running units was performed. The results show that the diagnosis system using infrared thermography can be used to identify abnormal conditions in the driving and running units of a railway vehicle. The diagnosis system can effectively inspect the normal and abnormal conditions in operation of a railway vehicle.

In this paper, we compared the performance of the mechanical inertia and electronic inertia used in the friction coefficient measurement process, as this is the main function of the braking performance tester. The comparative test was carried out 36 times under mechanical inertia and electronic inertia. Stop braking was performed at various braking speeds (120, 160, 200, 220 ㎞/h), and at various contact force conditions (8, 18, 25 kN). We compared the instantaneous coefficient of the friction, the average coefficient of the friction, the braking force, and the braking distance with the mechanical inertia and the electronic inertia, by taking the average of the three tests we performed each for braking velocity and contact force. In addition, the friction coefficient ratio and the energy ratio were calculated. As a result, it was confirmed that the test using the electronic inertia compared to the test using the mechanical inertia appropriately reflects the bearing frictional force and the rotational resistance loss of the tester, and the kinetic energy is consumed as the braking energy without loss.

Rolling contact fatigue (RCF) and wear caused by rolling contact between the wheel and rail are inevitable problems in railway systems. An increase in axle load or the slip ratio causes excessive wear. However, RCF and wear do not act independently, but one influences the other. Wheel and rail materials and manufacturing quality have a considerable influence on the formation of RCF and the ensuing wear. Therefore, the mechanical properties of the wheel and rail are important factors for reducing RCF and wear on the contact surface. This paper presents a comparative evaluation of the wheel and rail used in the Korean industry for high speed trains and conventional rails with respect to their fatigue and fracture behavior. A series of tests such as uniaxial tensile tests, fracture toughness tests, and fatigue crack growth tests were carried out at both room temperature and low temperatures.

The repeated thermal load on the railway wheel for tread brakes has been remarkably tightened due to increase in speed of trains and increase of operation frequency. As overheating and cooling between the wheel and brake block are continuously repeated, the railway wheel is damaged. To understand the process, thermal cracks for wheel tread can be experimentally reproduced under the condition of cyclic frictional heat from brake blocks, through bench experiments using a railway wheel. Thermal cracks generated in the wheel were investigated to observe the cracks’ initiation processes using full-scale brake dynamometer. Results show that as braking energy and braking temperature continued to accumulate, a hot spot appeared on the wheel surface and 2 mm of thermal crack occurred in the wheel rim.

During the past few years, several incidents of freight car wheel failure during operation have occurred due to fatigue crack and overheating from braking. Tensile residual stress on the wheel tread creates an environment conducive to the formation of thermal cracks that may threaten the safety of train operations. It is important to investigate the residual stress on wheels in order to prevent derailment. In the present paper, the residual stress on wheels is measured using the x-ray diffraction system and the residual stress is analyzed using FEM. The result shows that the residual stress on the wheel rim is lower than that on the wheel tread center and the stress on over-braked wheels changes from compression residual stress to tensile residual stress.

The braking device in railway vehicles decelerates or stops the train by dissipating the thermal energy converted from kinetic energy into the air. Therefore, the brake system is crucial for safety. In this paper, we performed a study on an electromechanical brake actuator using an electrical motor as an alternative to pneumatic air cylinders to reduce the idle running time in braking, which subsequently increases braking distance, and to ensure reliable response characteristics. Especially, to analyze the response characteristics of the electromechanical brake actuator, we measure the delay time, response time and power consumption compared to the air cylinder. It is confirmed that the electromechanical brake actuator can reduce reaction time by 0.1 seconds (Braking Action) and 0.46 seconds (Brake Release) compared to the air cylinder.

Railway vehicles driven by wheels obtain force required for propulsion and braking by adhesive force between wheels and rails, this adhesive force is determined by multiplying adhesion coefficient of the friction surface by the applied axle load. Because the adhesion coefficient has a peak at certain slip velocity, it is important to determine the maximum values of the friction coefficient on the contact area. But this adhesive phenomenon is not clearly examined or analyzed. Thus we have developed new test procedure using the scaled adhesion test-bench for analyzing of the adhesion coefficient between wheel and rail. This adhesion test equipment is an experimental device that contacts mutually with twin disc which are equivalent to wheels and rails of railway vehicles.

There is a large interest to find reliable and automatic methods for crack detection and quantification in the railway bogie frame. The non-destructive inspection of railway bogie frame has been performed by ultrasonic and magnetic particle testing in general inspection. The magnetic particle method has been utilized in the defect inspection of the bogie frame but the grinding process is required before inspection and the dust is developed resulting from the processing. The objective of this paper is to apply the inspection method of bogie frame using infra-red thermography. The infra-red thermography system using the excitation of eddy current was performed for the defect evaluation of weld specimen inserted artificial defects. The result shows that the infra-red thermography method can detect the surface and inner defects in weld specimen for bogie frame.

During the acceptance test of KTX, unexpectedly great lateral vibration in 14th~16th train at 150km/h~200km/h was appeared on a straight line in the winter season. Generally, stiffness of secondary suspension in KTX vehicle is one of the most sensitive components on air temperature. So, we examined that the secondary suspension to be mounted heating system was able to reduce the lateral vibration in the tail car of KTX. Also, we verified that lateral vibration from test results on KTX train with wheel conicity 1/20 disappeared.
In this paper, we analysis effective reduction methods and the cause of the lateral vibration using model of KTX train and compare with the test results. The analysis results agree well with test ones. From mode analysis result, lateral vibration is occurred at natural frequency range 0.5~0.6Hz with a negative damping value and its natural frequency disappear gradually according to increasing of wheel concinicy.

Usually, railway axles are designed for infinite life based on endurance limit of the material and the axle is not fractured immediately when a surface crack initiated. The railway axles have been inspected regularly by NDT such as ultrasonic testing, magnetic testing and eddy current testing and so on. Because the axle failure is profoundly influenced by the probability of missing a fatigue crack during an NDT inspection, it is necessary to evaluate the Non Destructive Interval of railway axle. In the present paper, the Non Destructive Interval of railway axle based on fracture mechanics and finite element analysis was investigated. It was shown that the Non Destructive Interval of railway axle can be evaluated using fracture mechanics approach and extended using NDT which a crack can detect clearly.

This paper presents the development of a condition monitoring system that monitors the operating conditions of a reduction unit, such as the bearing temperature, gearbox vibration, and gear oil deterioration, and notifies the operator of potential problems or abnormal conditions. A series of field tests on high-speed rail and conventional lines was performed to identify the characteristics of temperature rise and vibration levels on the reduction unit during operation. The monitoring system was designed based on the proper sensor selection, measurement method, and signal analysis to optimize the interface with the operating system of high-speed trains. Application of this monitoring system to high-speed trains will play an important role in their proper maintenance and safe operation.

Driving gear units can be affected by various problems, including those associated with external or internal defects in the bearing, problems with the lubricant oil, high-loading of the railway, and frequent impacts generated by rail joints. Temperature monitoring is a basic method in diagnosing abnormal conditions in the reduction gear and other components. This paper describes a new wireless monitoring system for the temperature diagnosis of abnormal conditions of the reduction gear. Integrated circuit (IC)-type temperature sensors were installed in the reduction gear box of a high-speed railway car. The temperature data from the reduction gear were acquired and analyzed in situ during high-speed rail operation. Analysis of these data was used to alert the driver and/or maintenance personnel when problems occurred.

The service conditions of railway cars have become more difficult in recent years due to increased speed. Faulty components in the railcars may result in service interruption, or in extreme cases, derailment. Thus, it is important to diagnose and monitor the main components of railcars. Temperature monitoring is one of the basic methods used to diagnose abnormal conditions in the main components of railway cars, such as in bearings, reduction gears, and traction motors. In this study, we developed a monitoring system for the main components, using an infrared thermography technique. This technique has the advantage of infrared thermal camera imaging of temperature contours in the components. Various hardware and software components of the monitoring system are used to acquire the sensor data, to identify poential problems in railcar operation.