Track Maintenance Method for Tilting Car Operation on Sharp Curves
Masao UCHIDA, Chief Engineer, Track Geometry & Maintenance G., Track Technology Development Div., Technological Development Dept.
Hideyuki TAKAI, Chief Engineer, Track Structure & Component G., Track Technology Devleopment Div., Technological Development Dept.
Tatsuya ISHIKAWA, Researcher, Track Dynamics Laboratory, Fundamental Research Div.
Eiji YAZAWA, Researcher, Track Dynamics Laboratory, Fundamental Research Div.
Masashi MIWA, Engineer, Track Geometry and Maintenance G., Track Technology Development Div., Technological Develoment Dept.
Recently, Japan Railway (JR) companies are pushing speedup projects on sharp curves, using the existing track facilities, and tilting cars which have a predictive control tilting system. On the vehicle running on curves, static forces like unbalanced centrifugal force or wheel lateral force act depending on curve radius, track cant and train speed. At the same time, a lateral vibrational acceleration and a changing lateral force occur mainly due to track alignment irregularities on outer rail. Especially in the case of tilting cars, these phenomena are more prominent because tilting cars run faster than non-tilting ones, and they generate higher centrifugal forces. Then some problems emerge like growth of track alignment irregularity, wear and defect of track components, resulting in riding discomfort. We studied the relation between vehicle running chracteristics and track or vehicle conditions on sharp curves in actual running tests, and lateral displacement characteristics under load repetition in a full-scale track test. In this report, we show a method for estimating vehicle lateral force and lateral vibration, a method for establishing track maintenance standards, a quantification method of track lateral deformation characteristics and an estimation method of track alignment irregularity growth.