Preliminary development, simulation and validation of a weigh in motion system for railway vehicles

The development of efficient Weigh In Motion (WIM) systems with the aim of estimating the axle loads of railway vehicles in motion is quite interesting both from an industrial and an academic point of view. This kind of systems is very important for safety and maintenance purposes in order to verify the loading conditions of a wide population of vehicles using a limited number of WIM devices distributed on the railway network. The evaluation of the axle load conditions is fundamental especially for freight wagons, more subjected to the risk of unbalanced loads which may be extremely dangerous both for the vehicle safety and the infrastructure maintenance. In this work the authors present the development, the simulation and the validation of an innovative WIM algorithm with the aim of estimating the axle loads $\widehat{N}$ of railway vehicles (the axle loads include the wheelset weights). The new estimation algorithm is a general purpose one; theoretically it could be applied by considering as input different kinds of track measurements (rail shear, rail bending, sleepers with sensors, etc.) and could be easily customized for different kinds of signals. In the paper a benchmark case based on rail bending measurements is proposed in which the longitudinal deformations ε _xx measured on the rail foot through strain sensitive elements are used as input. The considered input is affected by noise and bandwidth limitations and, consequently, is a good benchmark to test the robustness of the new algorithm. To estimate the axle loads, the algorithm approximates the measured physical input through a set of elementary functions calculated by means of a single fictitious load moving on the track. Starting from the set of elementary functions, the measured signal is then reproduced through Least Square Optimization (LSO) techniques: in more detail, the measured signal is considered as a linear combination of the elementary functions, the coefficients of which are the axle loads to be estimated. Authors have also developed a physical model of the railway track. The model consists of the planar FEM (finite elements method) model of the infrastructure and of the two-dimensional (2D) multibody model of the vehicle (the effects of lateral dynamics are treated as disturbances) and takes into account both the coupling between adjacent loads moving on the track and the vehicle dynamics. The physical model of the track and the innovative WIM algorithm (both considering possible measurement errors) have been validated by means of the experimental data kindly provided by Ansaldo STS and have been implemented in the Matlab and Comsol Multiphysics environments. In particular the model of the railway track has been developed expressly to test the WIM algorithm with a suitable simulation campaign when experimental data are not available; in other words it provides simulated inputs to test the WIM algorithm when there are no experimental inputs.     

Simulation of narrow gauge railway vehicles and experimental validation by mean of scaled tests on roller rig

The dynamic design of railway vehicles is often supported by numerical simulation performed by means of Multibody codes. Such methodology allows to define vehicle suspensions characteristics so as to meet running safety requirements and, in the case of passenger vehicles, to achieve an adequate comfort level. However, the effectiveness of the numerical model in the prediction of actual vehicle behavior may fall short of requirements if the model is not sufficiently accurate. Experimental validation can help to ensure reliability of the numerical models. In order to solve the problem, this work proposes to use experimental tests on scaled prototypes on roller-rig for preliminary validation of the numerical model.     

Development of a model for the analysis of wheel wear in railway vehicles

In railway applications, the estimation of the wear at the wheel-rail contact is an important field of study, mainly correlated to the planning of maintenance interventions, vehicle stability and the possibility to carry out specific strategies for the wheel profile optimization. In this work Authors present a model conceived for the evaluation of the wheel profile evolution due to wear, which is organized in two parts, mutually interactive: a vehicle model for the dynamic analysis and a model for the wear estimation. The wheel wear evolution is reproduced by dividing the overall chosen mileage to be simulated in discrete spatial steps: at each step the dynamic simulations are performed by means of the vehicle model keeping the wheel profile constant, while the wheel geometry is updated through the wear model only at the end of the discrete step. Thus, the two parts of the whole model work alternately until the completion of the whole established mileage. Clearly, the choice of an appropriate step length is one of the most important aspect of the procedure and it affects directly the result accuracy and the required computational time to complete the analysis. The entire model has been validated in collaboration with Trenitalia S.p.A and RFI, which has provided the technical documentation and the experimental results relating to some tests performed on a scenery that exhibits serious problems in terms of wear represented by the vehicle ALn 501 “Minuetto” on the Aosta-Pre Saint Didier line.     

Double rolling isolation systems: A mathematical model and experimental validation

Rolling isolation systems (RISs) protect fragile building contents from earthquake hazards by decoupling horizontal floor motions from the horizontal responses of the isolated object. The RISs in use today have displacement capacities of about 20 cm. This displacement capacity can be increased by stacking two systems. This paper presents and evaluates a complete non-linear model of the coupled dynamics of double RISs. The model is derived through the fundamental form of Lagrange׳s equation and involves the non-holonomic constraints of spheres rolling between non-parallel surfaces. The derivation requires the use of two translating and rotating reference frames. The proposed model is validated through comparisons between experimentally measured and numerically predicted time histories and peak response quantities—total acceleration and relative displacement. The effects of the initial conditions, the mass of the isolated object, and the amplitude and period of the disturbance on the system׳s performance are assessed.     

Theoretical development and experimental validation of a thermally dissipative cohesive zone model for dynamic fracture of amorphous polymers

A thermally dissipative cohesive zone model is developed for predicting the temperature increase at the tip of a crack propagating dynamically in a nominally brittle material exhibiting a cohesive-type failure such as crazing. The model assumes that fracture energy supplied to the crack tip region that is in excess of that needed for the creation of new free surfaces during crack advance is converted to heat within the cohesive zone. Bulk dissipation mechanisms, such as plasticity, are not accounted for. Several cohesive traction laws are examined, and the model is then used to make predictions of crack tip heating at various crack propagation speeds in the nominally brittle amorphous polymer PMMA, observed to fail by a crazing-type mechanism. The heating predictions are compared to experimental data where the temperature field surrounding a high speed crack in PMMA was measured. Measurements are made in real time using a multi-point high speed HgCdTe infrared radiation detector array. At the same time as temperature, simultaneous measurement of fracture energy is made by a strain gauge technique, and crack tip speed is monitored through a resistance ladder method. Material strength can be estimated through uniaxial tension tests, thus minimizing the need for parameter fitting in the stress-opening traction law. Excellent agreement between experiments and theory is found for two of the cohesive traction law temperature predictions, but only for the case where a single craze is active during the dynamic fracture of PMMA, i.e. crack tip speed up to approximately 0.2c_R. For higher speed fracture where subsurface damage becomes prominent, the line dissipation model of a cohesive zone is inadequate, and a distributed damage model is needed.     

A microstructural flow-induced crystallization model for film blowing: validation with experimental data

The two-phase microstructural/constitutive model for film blowing of Doufas and McHugh (D-M) (J Rheol 45:1085–1104, 2001a) is validated against online film data of a linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) at a variety of processing conditions. The D-M model includes the effects of thermal and flow-induced (enhanced) crystallization (FIC) coupled with the rheological response of both the melt and semicrystalline phases under fabrication conditions. The model predictions of bubble radius, velocity, and crystallinity profiles are in quantitative agreement with available experimental data over a wide range of blow-up ratios (BUR), take-up ratios (TUR), and bubble cooling rates using the same set of material/model parameters. The model naturally predicts the location of the frost line as a consequence of system stiffening due to crystallization overcoming the pitfalls of traditional modeling approaches that impose it as an artificial boundary condition. For a wide range of processing conditions, it is found that key film mechanical properties including elongation to break, yield stress, tensile modulus, and tear strength correlate well with predicted locked-in extensional stresses and molecular orientation at the frost line enabling development of quantitative structure-process-properties relationships that are useful in product and process development. The D-M model for film blowing is physics-based including elements of molecular rheology (polymer kinetic theory), suspension, and nucleation theories as well as irreversible thermodynamics principles, yet being tractable for continuum-based numerical simulations with practical industrial applicability. The FIC enhancement factor of the model is shown to be proportional to $\exp \left (\lambda _{\text {eff},\textnormal {w}}^{2} -1\right )$ , where λ _eff,w is a molecular chain stretch ratio of the whole chain and proportional to exp (λ ² ? 1), where λ is the stretch ratio of the remaining (uncrystallized) amorphous chain, consistent with fundamental kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of flow-induced nucleation of Graham and Olmsted (Phys Rev Lett 103:115702-1–115702-4, 2009).     

A plasma-fluid model for EHD flow in DBD actuators and experimental validation

A numerical method to simulate plasma induced electrohydrodynamic flow is proposed in this study. The numerical model consists of three components. Firstly, a potential module to simulate temporal potential and electric field generated in the ionized fluid. Secondly, a plasma module to simulate plasma development and charge particle densities. Finally, a fluid module to simulate the flow affected by the body forces induced by the movement of the charged particles. Fluid flow is modeled using modified predictor-corrector strategy as proposed in the marker and cell method. The velocity field was corrected to achieve incompressible flow by calculating pressure correction factors, considered in all cells. Numerical convergence and time sensitivity analysis were carried to confirm grid independence and determine an efficient time step for simulations. Numerical computations are validated by comparing with experimental results of discharge currents and current densities. They were found to be in very good agreement thus providing an extensive validation. Furthermore, quiescent flow over a dielectric barrier discharge actuator is simulated in the this study, using the proposed plasma-fluid model, to model flow evolution and resolve temporal flow features for detailed analysis. The streamline and vorticity plots were analyzed and compared with experimental results, and flow results were found to be in-line with the experiments.     

An algorithm for rotating axisymmetric flows: model,validation and industrial applications

The study of axisymmetric flows is of interest not only from an academic point of view, due to the existence of exact solutions of Navier–Stokes equations, but also from an industrial point of view, since these kind of flows are frequently found in several applications. In the present work the development and implementation of a finite element algorithm to solve Navier–Stokes equations with axisymmetric geometry and boundary conditions is presented. Such algorithm allows the simulation of flows with tangential velocity, including free surface flows, for both laminar and turbulent conditions. Pseudo‐concentration technique is used to model the free surface (or the interface between two fluids) and the k–ε model is employed to take into account turbulent effects. The finite element model is validated by comparisons with analytical solutions of Navier–Stokes equations and experimental measurements. Two different industrial applications are presented. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A fractional non-linear creep model for coal considering damage effect and experimental validation

Accurate prediction of coal׳s creep behavior is of great significance to coalbed methane extraction. In this study, taking into account the visco-elastic–plastic characteristics and the damage effect, a fractional non-linear model is proposed to describe the creep behavior of coal. The constitutive and creep equations of the proposed fractional non-linear model are derived via the Boltzmann superposition principle and discrete inverse Laplace transform. Furthermore, uniaxial creep tests under different axial stress conditions were carried out to validate the proposed model. It is found that the present model can describe the experimental data from creep tests with better accuracy than classical models. Particularly, the present model can predict the accelerating creep deformation of coal which classical models fail to reproduce. Finally, the parametric sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effects of model parameters on the creep strain. It is verified that the introduction of fractional parameters and damage factor in the present model is essential to accurate prediction of the full creep stage of coal.     

Impact vibration behavior of railway vehicles: a state-of-the-art overview

Excessive vibrations of railway vehicles induced by dynamic impact loadings have a significant impact on train operating safety and stability; however, due to the complexity and diversity of railway lines and service environment, they are extremely difficult to eliminate. A comprehensive overview of recent studies on the impact vibration behavior of railway vehicles was given in this paper. First, the sources of impact excitations were categorized in terms of wheel-rail contact irregularity, aerodynamic loads, and longitudinal impulses by train traction/braking. Then the main research approaches of vehicle impact vibration were briefly introduced in theoretical, experimental, and simulation aspects. Also, the impact vibration response characteristics of railway vehicles were categorized and examined in detail to various impact excitation sources. Finally, some attempts of using the railway vehicle vibration to detect track defects and the possible mitigation measures were outlined.

Graphic abstract

     

Development and experimental validation of a continuum micromechanics model for the elasticity of wood

This contribution covers the development and validation of a microelastic model for wood, based on a four-step homogenization scheme. At a length scale of several tens of nanometers, hemicellulose, lignin, and water are intimately mixed, and build up a polymer (polycrystal-type) network. At a length scale of around one micron, fiberlike aggregates of crystalline and amorphous cellulose are embedded in an contiguous polymer matrix, constituting the so-called cell wall material. At a length scale of about one hundred microns, the material softwood is defined, comprising cylindrical pores (lumen) in the cell wall material of the preceding homogenization step. Finally, at a length scale of several millimeters, hardwood comprises larger cylindrical pores (vessels) embedded in the softwood-type material homogenized before. Model validation rests on statistically and physically independent experiments: The macroscopic stiffness values (of hardwood or softwood) predicted by the micromechanical model on the basis of tissue-independent (‘universal’) phase stiffness properties of hemicellulose, amorphous cellulose, crystalline cellulose, lignin, and water (experimental set I) for tissue-specific composition data (experimental set IIb) are compared to corresponding experimentally determined tissue-specific stiffness values (experimental set IIa).     

An experimental study of the adhesion between clay and steel

Many practical problems in Soil Mechanics require a detail knowledge of the shearing resistance to relative sliding at the interface between soils and structural materials. This study presents a complete set of parameters for the shearing resistance between two different clays and a smooth steel surface. Results are given for the behaviour of clay samples tested in the shear box under quick undrained, consolidated undrained and consolidated drained conditions. These parameters are compared with those obtained for the internal shear strength.The drained and undrained results for both clays show that clay to steel initially has a higher shear strength than clay.to clay. Its subsequent behaviour depends upon whether the clay is over or normally consolidated. Some adhesion factors are suggested.     

An experimental validation of load distribution in screw threads

The thread load distribution has been examined, as is known, in literature both theoretically and experimentally. in the present paper the load distribution is validated by strain-gage measurements. Starting from the theoretical load distribution the stresses on the outer surface of the female member of a threaded connection are calculated. The theoretical and experimental stress values obtained are reasonably close.     

The development of a soil trafficability model for legged vehicles on granular soils

This paper extends previous research in planetary microrover locomotion system analysis at the University of Surrey through the development of a legged microrover mobility model. This model compares various two- and three-dimensional soil cutting models to determine the most applicable model to legged locomotion in deformable soils, and is flexible to use any of these models depending on the leg shape, sinkage and other conditions. This baseline draught force model is used for determining the soil forces available for legged vehicle locomotion, as well as the soil thrust available to the vehicle footprint. Empirical investigations were performed with a robotic arm in planetary soil simulants to validate a legged mobility model through determination of the draft force of a robotic leg pushing through soil at constant and varying sinkage levels. The resulting locomotion performance model will be used to predict the ability of the legged vehicle to traverse a specific soil. An introduction to the planetary soil simulants used in this study (SSC-1 quartz-based sand and SSC-2 garnet-based sand) and the process used to determine their mechanical properties is also briefly presented to provide a baseline for this research.     

An experimental investigation into some problems connected with tackiness and adhesion

Summary An instrument is described enabling the measurement of the various parameters determining the phenomenon of tackiness arising under the circumstances of the experiment. It appears that tackiness is a complex phenomenon composed of two different processes. The first is the adhesion which is established during the touching of the two surfaces, and which is mainly determined by the extent of the area of contact, which in its turn depends on the geometry of the experiment and the bulk properties of the tacky material. The other process is the separation of the two adherents depending upon properties connected with the physical state in the border region between the two surfaces. The experiment proves that the adhesion energy per surface unit is independent of time, stress and temperature during the touching process but is only determined by the intermolecular forces. The process of separation, on the contrary, is essentially a tearing process and highly dependent upon stress and temperature, as is the case with the propagation of cracks in visco-elastic media.

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Zusammenfassung Es wird ein Instrument beschrieben, das die verschiedensten Parameter zu messen erlaubt, die das Phänomen der Klebrigkeit unter den während des Experiments auftretenden Umständen bestimmen. Es scheint, daß die Klebrigkeit ein komplexes Phänomen, bestehend aus zwei verschiedenen Prozessen, darstellt. Der erste ist die Adhäsion, die während der Berührung der zwei Oberflächen eintritt, und die im wesentlichen durch die Größe der Kontaktflächen bestimmt ist, die wiederum von der Geometrie des Experimentes und den Masseneigenschaften des klebrigen Materials abhängt. Der andere Prozeß ist die Trennung zwischen den beiden Komponenten, der von Eigenschaften des physikalischen Zustandes in der Kontaktregion zwischen den beiden Flächen abhängt. Das Experiment beweist, daß die Adhäsionsenergie pro Flächeneinheit während der Berührung unabhängig von Zeit, Zug und Temperatur ist und nur durch die intermolekularen Kräfte bestimmt wird. Der Prozeß der Trennung dagegen ist im wesentlichen ein Zerreißvorgang und sehr stark von Zug und Temperatur abhängig, genau wie die Ausbreitung von Brüchen in viskoelastischen Medien.