Adhesion estimation and its implementation for traction control of locomotives

During locomotive movement in traction or braking modes, body weight distribution varies between bogies in different proportions depending on many factors. Each bogie and wheelset thus experiences a different traction coefficient. Locomotive manufacturers introduce traction control system strategies for achieving optimal adhesion allowing for axle weight transfers. Determination of adhesion coefficients to input into traction control systems is a complex and difficult issue. Optimising this task requires solving the problem of how to estimate rail friction condition. This paper describes the algorithm which allows estimation of friction parameters for hauling locomotives, and uses a low computational cost solution based on existing approaches and input signals from sensors. The verification of the algorithm is performed using a co-simulation process between the multibody software and Matlab/Simulink package. Simulation results obtained confirm that the proposed approach is an efficient and practical tool that can be recommended for implementation for locomotive traction control systems.