The effects of the friction between frame and adapters on the performance of three-piece truck

For the traditional three-piece truck there is no primary suspension and the connection between side frame and adapter (wheelset) is via direct contact with two-dimensional dry friction on the contact surfaces. The dry friction has two modes: stick and slip motion. Knowledge of the friction on the adapter surface is useful as it affects the wagon dynamic performance on both straight and curved track. In this paper we developed a friction element which can be used to describe two-dimensional dry friction with stick-slip modes. Static and kinematic friction coefficients can be used. The successfully implemented this new friction element in a complete wagon model. The model also includes two-dimensional friction on the surfaces of friction wedge dampers in the secondary suspension. Various friction coefficients are selected for the side frame/adapter contact and the dynamic performance of wagon on straight and curved track is investigated.