A Method to Optimize Stability and Wheel Wear in Railway Bogies

In this paper, a procedure is proposed to optimize bogie suspension parameters in view of minimizing wheel wear produced by curve negotiation, though meeting stability requirements. The problem is dealt with in the form of a constrained minimization problem, in which wheel wear evaluated over a given service scenario is introduced as the cost function to be minimized, and the requirements on vehicle stability are formulated in terms of constraints. The procedure is applied to the case of a non-powered passenger car for high-speed service, and the results obtained are discussed. It is shown that long wheelbase bogie may provide better overall performances than bogies having comparatively short wheelbase. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed, to define the effect on the optimization results of improving the performances of the yaw dampers in the bogie and of using a different wheel profile.