Wheel Rail Profile Optimisation Case Study

Wheel Rail Profile Optimisation

The Project

In 2005, DeltaRail was approached by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) to investigate wheel/rail issues on the West Rail line in Hong Kong.  Problems included vehicle vibration due to lateral instability, wheelset life and a rapid growth of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) damage on the high rail in curves.

Simulation is one of the most effective ways to assess wheel and rail profiles and improve compatibility.  Vampire, DeltaRail's unique vehicle dynamics simulation package, has been used in this area for many years, enabling the user to build a virtual railway to evaluate the interaction between the train and the track.

A team from DeltaRail travelled to Hong Kong and collected detailed information on the problems being experienced.  The track geometry and rail profile information was incorporated into a Vampire model of the entire route and a model of the SP1900 train constructed incorporating the measured wheel profiles.  Vampire was used to predict the locations of RCF – showing a close match to the real ones - with further simulations undertaken with altered wheel and rail profiles to find the most effective combination.

The Benefits

A one year trial on West Rail demonstrated that the revised wheel and rail profiles, coupled with reformulation of the rail lubrication grease, had significantly improved performance and cut costs.  Results showed improved stability, extension of the re-profiling interval from 120,000km to 200,000kms; and a dramatic reduction in the occurrence of RCF from over 21km in 2005 to less than 5km in 2007.

A similar Vampire modelling study was subsequently undertaken for the more recently opened Ma On Shan line, where the adoption of revised wheel and rail profiles led to similar benefits.