The influence of the condition of three-piece freight bogies on wheel flange wear: simulation and operation monitoring

The problem with Model 18-100 three-piece bogies operated in Russia is that the flange wear rate is much higher than that for the tread. Scientists who studied the problem proposed various reasons for this, such as adopting a 1520mm gauge instead of 1524mm in the 1960s, installation of roller bearings instead of friction ones, either increased or insufficient yaw resistance torque of the bogie, geometric changes due to wear in operation and many others. The paper studies the input of different factors into flange wear by simulation and measurements in operation and proposes a statistical approach to determine the total input.