Wheel/rail interaction for
lubrication
Mark Burstow
Network Rail (V/T SIC PPG)
Barnaby Temple
L.B. Foster
October 2015
/
Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Background
Replacement of mechanical lubricators with electric lubricators reduces
the number of lubricators which are required
►
More reliable and controllable
Electric lubricators can be installed on straight track
and the lubricant carried through a number of curves
►
►
►
Lubricate both rails at the same time
Easier maintenance
Safer for maintenance teams
Comments suggested that ‘carry’ from an electric lubricator was not as
good as expected
►
They believed freight vehicles to be better at picking up lubricant than
passenger vehicles
20-Nov-15 / 2
Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Initial analysis: wheel displacement
6.5mm
4mm
113A rail
P8 wheel
P10 wheel
GDU bar
GDU
5mm
“Good” quality track (225)
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Objective
Undertake measurements and vehicle dynamics simulations to better
understand interaction
►
A number of sites identified and measurement visits
undertaken
• Hereford, Stansted, Canterbury
►
Detailed track geometry measurements
• Gauge, crosslevel, alignment
• Rail profiles, including lubricator blades
Height and width of GDU bars on rail
► Size/shape of grease bulbs
► Vehicle behaviour
►
• Paint-sticking of rail
through lubricators
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Site #1: Hereford- 4 lubricators
Up direction
Up
4
Right hand curves
Curvature/1/km
3
2
1
0
0
1760
3520
5280
7040
8800
10560
12320
14080
-1
-2
Left hand curves
-3
Distance/yds
N
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Hereford, Eign viaduct
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Eign viaduct- track geometry
50
Crosslevel/mm
40
30
20
51m60ch
51m40ch
10
0
5720
5940
6160
-10
20
6380
6600
6380
6600
Distance/yds
Gauge/mm
15
10
5
0
5720
5940
6160
-5
6
Gauge variation/mm
-10
4
Distance/yds
2
-90
-70
-50
-30
0
-10 -2
10
30
50
70
90
-4
Hand measurements
-6
Amber trolley
-8
Track recording vehicle
-10
-12
Distance from lubricator/m
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Eign viaduct, rail profiles
Before lubricator
Direction of travel
After lubricator
KLD profiles
Miniprof profiles
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Eign viaduct, vehicle behaviour
Train 1: Freight
►
Clear ‘pick-up’ of lubricant
• Grease bulbs all disturbed – indicating pick up of
grease
• Spread on to gauge corner as desired
20-Nov-15 / 9
Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Eign viaduct, vehicle behaviour
Train 1: Freight
►
Clear ‘pick-up’ of lubricant
Train 2: Passenger
►
No contact with lubricant
• Only very slight flange tip contact with foam - &
further from rail
• Grease bulbs undisturbed
• On current settings, 2 activations during this train
passage
20-Nov-15 / 10
Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Eign viaduct, vehicle behaviour
Train 1: Freight
►
• Lubricator was over-primed
Clear ‘pick-up’ of lubricant
Train 2: Passenger
►
•
Much larger grease bulbs than would normally be
expected to be seen
No contact with lubricant
Train 3: Passenger
►
Now contact is made with lubricant
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Grease bulb measurement
Paper slips cut to rail profile
dipped in grease at GDU ports
Position/size of grease bulbs
marked
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Comparing dimensions
Overlay on GDU with
GreaseGuide of:
► New CEN56 rail
► Worn P8 wheel profile at zero
displacement
► GDU at measured height
below top of rail
► Measured grease bulb post
freight train (blue)
► Measured bulb post 8 second
priming (equiv to ~40 trains at
the settings of 0.1s/6axles)
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Visualisation of behaviour
Measurements combined with vehicle dynamics simulations to visualise
contact conditions
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Laboratory testing– University of Sheffield
 Test rig made with scale wheel
 Set up with grease dispensing
unit (GDU)
 Variety of grease bulb emission
and wheel pick-up tests
 Wheel position varied in
parametric study
 With and without
GreaseGuide™ fitted
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Laboratory results – University tests
 Grease bulb size simulated for
a range of pump outputs
 Output used to determine
suitable parameter variation for
wheel pick-up tests
 Mass of grease transferred to
wheel measured
 Mass lost
determined
as below
port level
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Tests of GDU w/wo GreaseGuide™
 Use of a L.B. Foster GreaseGuide™
seems to increase mass of grease
transferred to wheel
 Results have shown promise to support
improvements to application guidance
20-Nov-15 / 17
Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Monitoring of grease pick-up on site
Very little grease evident
on blades initially
►
Lubricator pump and
sensor checked and reset
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
1st passenger train
No evidence of grease pick up
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
2nd passenger train
Some grease picked up
More from left blades than right
► Because of vehicle behaviour or size of
bulbs?
►
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
3rd passenger train
A lot more grease pick up, but still mainly
from the left rail blades
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Influence of blade design
Blades replaced with different design to test
performance
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Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Questions arising
Is it a problem that most of the lubricant is picked up by freight
vehicles?
►
Depends on the balance of freight/passenger traffic on a route
Do the freight vehicles reliably carry lubricant into the curves for
the passenger vehicles?
Which curves do passenger vehicles need lubricating- where do
they make flange contact?
What happens when passenger traffic is the sole traffic?
►
Some sites have been visited which just see passenger traffic
20-Nov-15 / 23
Wheel/rail interaction for lubrication
Conclusions and next steps
Improved our understanding of interaction of wheel/rail/lubricators
A large amount of data has been captured (and continues to be)
Many variables to consider
Blade design
► Position of blade on rail
► Pump settings
► Optimum position of blade on track
► Vehicles operating over route
► Lubricant behaviour- temperature, carry
►
Other issues: rail shape
On-going analysis- come back next year!
20-Nov-15 / 24