Dynamic simulation of wheel-rail interaction for locomotive traction studies

When investigating the application of a control strategy or technique to a traction motor for locomotive applications, the dynamics of the interaction between the wheel and the rail must be considered. This includes wheel slip/spin effects and the effects of different wheel diameters on the loading of the motors. These effects are governed by a complex interaction between the motor, its controller and wheel-rail adhesion characteristics. This work presents a dynamic model of the wheel-rail adhesion characteristics which may be expanded to simulate a multi-three phase motor driven locomotive. The model is capable of showing wheel slip effects and the effects of variations in wheel diameters on the motors. Simulations were performed on the dynamic systems simulator, SIMULINK and the results are given for several simplified cases