The inventions of this application relate generally to railroad friction enhancing and friction reducing systems. More particularly, the inventions relate to systems and methods for automatically controlling the application of the cohesion or friction modifiers to a railway system.
Locomotives and transit vehicles as well as other large traction vehicles are commonly powered by electric traction motors coupled in driving relationship to one or more axles of the vehicle. Locomotives and transit vehicles generally have at least four axle-wheel sets per vehicle with each axle-wheel set being connected via suitable gearing to the shaft of a separate electric motor commonly referred to as a traction motor. In the motoring mode of operation, the traction motors are supplied with electric current from a controllable source of electric power (i.e., an engine-driven traction alternator) and apply torque to the vehicle wheels which exert tangential force or tractive effort on the surface on which the vehicle is traveling (i.e., the parallel steel rails of a railroad track), thereby propelling the vehicle in a desired direction along the right of way.
Locomotives used for heavy haul applications typically must produce high tractive efforts. Good adhesion between each wheel and the surface is required for efficient operation of the locomotive. The ability to produce these high tractive efforts depends on the available adhesion between the wheel and rail. Many rail conditions such as being wet or covered with snow or ice require an application of friction enhancing agent such as sand to improve the adhesion of the wheel to the rail. Therefore, locomotives typically have sand boxes on either end of the locomotives, and nozzles to dispense the sand (both manually and automatically) to the rail on either side of-the truck.
Maximum tractive or braking effort is obtained if each powered wheel of the vehicle is rotating at such an angular velocity that its actual peripheral speed is slightly higher (motoring) than the true vehicle speed, i.e., the linear speed at which the vehicle is traveling, usually referred to as “ground speed” or “track speed”. The difference between tractive wheel speed and track speed is referred to as “creepage” or “creep speed.” There is a variable value of creepage at which peak tractive effort is realized. This value, commonly known as the optimal creep setpoint is a variable that depends on track speed and rail conditions. So long as the allowable creepage is not exceeded, this controlled wheel slip is normal and the vehicle will operate in a stable microslip or creeping mode. If wheel-to-rail adhesion tends to be reduced or lost, some or all of the tractive wheels may slip excessively, i.e., the actual creep speed may be greater than the maximum creep speed. Such a gross wheel slip condition, which is characterized in the motoring mode by one or more spinning axle-wheel sets, can cause accelerated wheel wear, rail damage, high mechanical stresses in the drive components of the propulsion system, and an undesirable decrease of tractive effort.
The peak tractive effort (TE) limits the pulling/braking capability of the locomotive. This peak tractive effort is a function of various parameters, such as weight of the locomotive per axle, wheel rail material and geometry, and contaminants like snow, water, grease, insects and rust. Contaminants in the wheel/rail interface reduce the maximum adhesion available, even at the optimal creep setpoint.
While the locomotives most often require friction enhancing agents, locomotives also require, in some situations, the application of a lubricant to reduce the wear of the locomotive wheel flanges. For example, when a locomotive is traversing a section of track with a curve. For a locomotive or a consist of locomotives that are always oriented in the same way, maximum benefit for wheel-rail wear of both the cars and the locomotives is provided by lubricating the gage side of the rail or wheel flanges on the high rail in the front and simultaneously lubricating the top of the two rails in the trailing end of the locomotive or the locomotive consist. Control of the rail gage side (RAGS) lubricator as well as the top of rail (TOR) lubricator can be done by the same controller for one locomotive or two controllers located in different locomotives for the case of a locomotive consist.
While locomotives often require increased cohesion, generally non-locomotive railway cars trailing the locomotives operate most efficiently at lower cohesion or friction levels. As such, friction modifiers such as lubricants may be added to a rail to reduce the friction and therefore pull weight of railway cars. Lubricant applied to the top of the rail and possibly to the gage side of the rail behind the last axle of the last locomotive results in reduced friction and wear of the trailing car wheels. In other systems, such as a flange lubrication system, grease is applied to the flanges of the locomotive wheels in order to reduce friction between the flange and the wheel thereby reducing fuel usage and increase rail and wheel life. The system dispenses a controlled amount of lubrication, based on locomotive speed and direction, to the inside flange of wheel to lubricate the wheel/flange interface on the trailing axles of the locomotive/train. Presently, nozzle placement is based on customer choice, and the nozzles can be applied to multiple axles and always in pairs (left and right side). The lubrication is typically of a graphite base.
It is desirable to reduce the coefficient of friction for the trailing cars as the reductions in the coefficient of friction directly reduces the pull weight and directly improves the fuel efficiency of the locomotive consist. Managing the coefficient of friction of the cars can result in a 10 to 30 percent increase in fuel efficiency.
Chart 400 in
In this illustration, a locomotive is applying 17,000 pounds of tractive effort. However, at point 406 the rail is wet and the wheels are experiencing a per unit creep of more than 0.14. Sand is applied immediately prior to the advancing wheel of the locomotive. As a result, at point 408 tractive effort is increased to 20,000 pounds and per unit creep is reduced to less than 0.03. If the sand is later removed, the operating point returns from point 408 to the prior operating point 406. This illustrates the benefits of both applying a friction enhancing agent, in this case sand, and the subsequent removal of the sand to thereafter reduce the friction experienced by a trailing railway car.
Referring now to
Alternatively or in addition, auxiliary information or data 604, which may be in the form of a parameter directly or indirectly relating to the operation of the train, may be utilized as input for friction management of a railway wheel to the rail. These may include but are not limited to consist/train length, train weight, track map, train location, track topography, track grade, track curvature, rail temperature, rail conditions such as dry, wet, rain, snow or ice, the presence of rail modifiers on a rail, both the current and forecasted weather, train schedules or external commands from operators or dispatch centers.
As shown in
A locomotive or a railway car is equipped with an applicator 610 that is responsive to the controller 606. Applicator 610 applies a friction modifying agent 612 to the rail at an area of contact between the railway wheels and the rails on which they are traversing. Friction modifying agents 612 may be enhanced adhesion materials such as sand, or the removal of snow or water from the rail. Friction reducing agents may be water, steam, air, oil, a lubricant, or may be the removal of sand, water, snow or a friction enhancing agent that exists on the rail at the time. In either case, cleaning the rail with a brush, or with water or air, may be friction enhancing or friction reducing depending on the existing state of the rail. The friction management system 600 analyzes these and other operational parameters 602 and optional auxiliary data 604 to determine the appropriate timing and quantity of friction modifying agent 612 to be applied. For example, the amount of friction modifying agent 612 applied by an applicator 610 may be optimized based on the length of the train and the weather conditions such that the modifying agent 612 is consumed or dissipated by the time the last car in a train configuration passes the point of application of modifying agent 612. While the parameters 602 and auxiliary data 604 may be used or monitored for other operational purposes, they are not used for friction management.
In one embodiment of the inventions, a train configuration has a plurality of applicators 610 located at positions that are before the wheels of the locomotive. As a locomotive may work in the forward or reverse directions, the locomotive may be configured with friction modifying agent applicators 610 at both ends of the vehicle. Additionally, applicators 610 may be applied to the leading end or the trailing end of a locomotive or a railway car for application of a friction modifying agent 612.
Applicators 610 are configured on the railway vehicle such as to enable the application of the friction modifying agents 612 to defined points of application. As such, it is contemplated that there will be a plurality of applicators 610 on each railway vehicle. Applicators 610 are configured to apply a friction modifying agent 612 to the wheel flange, the wheel rim, the top of the rail (TOR) and/or to the rail gage side (RAGS). The controller 606 may determine the type, timing and/or quantity of the friction modifying agent 612 to be applied in response to the sensed parameter 602. The controller 606 determines the one or more applicators 610 among a plurality of applicators 610 located on a train, locomotive or railway car to apply the agent. Additionally, the controller 606 determines the point of application for the friction modifying agent 612 to be applied.
As noted above a plurality of applicators 610 are positioned on a locomotive and/or a railway car in order to optimize friction management of a train configuration. A train configuration is typically comprised of a lead motoring locomotive, one or more optional secondary motoring locomotives, an optional trailing motoring locomotive that is positioned in a train configuration at a point distant from the lead and secondary motoring locomotives, and one or more railway cars. The applicator, and therefore the application of friction modifying agents 612, may be positioned as a lead applicator of the lead motoring locomotive, a trailing applicator of the lead motoring locomotive, a lead applicator of the secondary motoring locomotive, a trailing applicator of the secondary motoring locomotive, a lead applicator of the trailing motoring locomotive, a trailing applicator of the trailing motoring locomotive, a lead applicator of a railway car, or a trailing applicator of a railway car. Each of these is contemplated as being managed by the friction management system 600.
The controller 606 may communicate by one or more communication systems or links (not shown) between the controller 606, locomotives and railway cars equipped with the friction management system 600.
The secondary locomotive 704 is configured with applicator 714 at the leading end of the locomotive 704. The controller 606 controls the application of friction modifying agents 612 by applicator 714 based on the determined need. In some situations the controller 606 may determine that the application applied by applicator 712 on the leading locomotive 702 is sufficient for both the lead 702 and secondary 704 locomotive. This may be the case when water, snow or ice is on the track and applicator 712 is controlled to remove the water, snow or ice. However, where a steep incline is encountered, the controller 606 may control 712 and 714 to apply friction enhancing agents 612 such as sand to the top of the rail.
Also as shown in
Referring now to
Now referring to
Referring to
As discussed earlier, the controller 606 receives operating parameters 602 from one or more sensors 610 on the train, or associated with the train. Additionally, the controller 606 may also receive auxiliary data 604 from other sources that affect the management and optimization of the friction between the railway wheels and the rail.
As noted in
As another example,
In another embodiment, as noted above knowledge related to the length/weight/power of the consist will be applied to the determination of when and the quantity of the friction modifying agents 612 to be applied. Additionally, a track map, such as based on a CAD system and stored in memory 608, and a detected current position of the train, such as via a GPS location, may be used by the controller 606 to determine when and how much and type of agent 612 to be applied. The current location may be determined by any known device or method, including operator action. Furthermore, computer aided dispatch systems that gather and analyze train parameter information including the length of the train, weight of the train, the speed of the train and the applied power may be used as an input of auxiliary data 604 to determine when and how much friction modifying agent 612 to apply. A train scheduler/movement planner system and/or RR dispatcher to determine train characteristics are also contemplated as input to the controller 606's determining process.
The application of a selected friction modifying agent may be controlled as a function of a train operation parameter and the current location of the train. For example, one or more type of friction modifying agent may be precluded from use along a predetermined section of the rail. This may be useful for preventing sand or oil from being applied near a road crossing where it may cause physical damage or an undesirable consequence for crossing automobile traffic. Similarly, it may be desired to avoid the application of sand proximate a switch in the rail in order to avoid possible jamming of the mechanical linkages associated with the switch. Because the application of compressed air generally generates a high sound level, it may be desired to prevent the application of compressed air proximate a noise control portion of the rail, such as in residential areas. It may also be beneficial to require the application of one or more predetermined types of friction modifying agents along a predetermined section of the rail, such as requiring the application of oil at a sharp curve in the rail to minimize wear. These and other location-dependent criteria may be included in programmed code that is stored in memory 608 and executed in controller 606 as part of a friction modifying agent control and management system 600. In one embodiment, such a system 600 may be normally energized for automatic application of an appropriate friction modifying agent in accordance with pre-programmed instructions, and may also provide a provision for deactivation of the automatic system by an operator on demand, such as when the operator detects a track condition determined to be unusual or beyond the expected design criteria of the system 600.
Another parameter 602 utilized by the friction management system 600 is an inertia estimate based on tractive effort, track grade, speed or tractive effort, GPS position, track map, and speed. The inertia of the train can be determined by the acceleration change per tractive effort change assuming the grade has not changed. If the track grade is also known, then it can be compensated for. The acceleration is obtained from the speed sensors 610 on board the locomotive, the tractive effort is the estimate of force which can be obtained typically from current and voltage measurements on the traction motors (not shown) or it could be obtained from other direct sensors 610. The track grade could be obtained from inclinometers or could be assumed to be the same if the measurements are done over a short period of time. Another technique could use the position of the train, possibly as determined by an on-board global positioning system (GPS) receiver to obtain speed and/or track grade. Another technique could use the track map information based on GPS, operator inputs or side transponders.
Other parameters 602 that may be utilized by the friction management system 600 include speed, throttle setting, and/or tractive effort. The dispensation of both high adhesion material and low adhesion material could be optimized based on the operation of the locomotive. For example, when the consist or train operator calls for high tractive effort (high notch/low speed) then only applicators 712, 714 and 1004 need to be enabled. If the tractive effort produced is what the operator has requested, then there is no need to add friction increasing materials. Most of the fuel efficiency benefits are at high speeds (when tractive effort is low). So under these conditions, only applicators 716 and 902 and optionally applicator 802 need to be enabled. All these variables are available easily on board the locomotive.
As discussed above, the condition of rail 710 is another parameter or item of auxiliary data used to determine optimal friction management. In order to optimize the cost, the dispensing of friction modifying agents 612 can be controlled based on the rail conditions. For example, if rail 710 is dry and clean, then there is no need to dispense high adhesion material. Similarly when there is rain/snow, it may not be necessary to dispense friction-lowering material since the reduction in friction may not be appreciable. Another example is if it is raining or rain is expected before the next train, then there may not be a need to remove low friction material during use of nozzle D. These rail conditions could be inferred based on sensors 610 already on board based on adhesion/creep curves, or could be based on additional sensors 610, or inputs from the dispatch center, operators, external transponders, weather satellites etc.
For rail cars 706 and or idle wheels, creep could be used to estimate the friction coefficient. A separate sensor 610 could be used to determine the coefficient of friction. These sensors 610 could be placed at every point where friction lowering material dispensing is applied or at the end of the locomotive consist. Similarly friction sensors 610 or creep of the last wheel(s) may be used for dispensing neutralizing friction modifying material from applicator 802.
Another factor to be considered is effectiveness detection. It is often necessary to find when these dispensing mechanisms are not working either due to failure or due to lack of friction modifying materials. This is especially important if there are many different kinds of dispensers or if it is difficult to check their operation. For example, if after dispensing high adhesion material, the creep decreases for the same tractive effort or if the tractive effort increases for the same creep or a combination is observed, then the friction modifier is effective. This could be done periodically, such as once every ten minutes or other appropriate interval, or whenever the dispensing is initiated. Similarly when the dispensing is terminated, the opposite effect should be observed for proper operation. Similarly when the friction lowering material is dispensed there should be reduction of tractive effort required to maintain the same speed (on the same grade) or there is a speed increase for the same tractive effort. The converse should be observed when the dispensing is stopped. This checking could also be done periodically to ascertain the health of the friction lowering system. These are closed loop systems, which operate in the train. Verification of some of the effects, such as when too much friction lowering material is dispensed (see
Effectiveness detection may include a decision whether or not there is sufficient benefit for dispensing the friction modifier. For example, if sand is dispensed there is a cost for providing sand, including the cost of the material, the transportation and handling charges for delivering sand to the locomotive, wear/deterioration cost of the dispensing equipment, and the cost associated with the compressed air required to deliver the sand. However, the cost for delivering compressed air to clean the rail may be significantly lower since there is no material cost and the wear/deterioration cost may be lower. There may also be a cost for cleaning and maintaining the tracks and other infrastructure after the dispensation of the adhesion modifying material. For example, railway bed drains may need periodic cleaning due to clogs caused by sand. Therefore, depending upon the type of friction modifier dispensed, the minimum benefit required to overcome the cost will be different. In one example, for the use of sand as a friction enhancer to be economically beneficial, there may need to be at least a 20,000 pound increase in the tractive effort of a locomotive, or alternatively, a one mile per hour per minute increase in acceleration. For compressed air the criteria may be different, for example the tractive effort increase limit may be selected as at least 5,000 pounds in one embodiment. Such criteria may be bypassed or ignored in special circumstances, such as if the locomotive is slowing down and a stall is predicted (for example, less than 10 mph speed and slowing at 5 mph/minute, or other appropriate criteria selected by the designer of the system). In one embodiment, the criteria may be changed in response to operator action, such as when an operator selects manual sanding, whereupon the criteria used may be made less restrictive in recognition of the special circumstances identified by the operator.
Similarly, as noted in
As noted earlier, braking conditions are also factors to be considered in friction management. During a braking application, the dispensing requirement changes. No friction lowering material is required and it is advisable to increase the friction coefficient, as high braking effort is required. So during dynamic brake operation or independent brake operation, only nozzles 712, 714, 1004 and possibly 802 need to operate. Nozzle 716 and 902 should not be operated. Nozzles 712, 714 and 1004 could be energized based on braking effort call and braking effort obtained and based on rail conditions. Similarly during train air brake operation in addition to turning off nozzles 716 and 902, it may even be necessary to substitute it with friction enhancing material dispensers especially during emergency brake operation to reduce stopping distance. However during light braking/coasting operation friction lowering material could be dispensed if necessary to reduce wheel wear reduction and for preventing too much speed reduction.
During distributed power operation, the dispensing of adhesion lowering material in the lead consist depends on the number/weight of load cars between the lead consist and the trail consist (information of cars between applicators 716 and 1004 in
Based on the foregoing specification, the methods described may be implemented using computer programming or engineering techniques including computer software, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset thereof, wherein the technical effect is to control application of one or more of a plurality of types of friction modifying agents to an area of contact between a wheel of a railway train vehicle and a rail over which the train is traversing to selectively modify a coefficient of friction at the area of contact. Any such resulting program, having computer-readable code means, may be embodied or provided within one or more computer-readable media, thereby making a computer program product, i.e., an article of manufacture, according to the inventions. For example, the computer readable media may contain program instructions for recognizing a sensed parameter related to operation of the railway train; for selecting at least one type of friction modifying agent as a function of the sensed parameter; and for controlling operation of an applicator to apply the selected type of friction modifying agent to the area of contact as a function of the sensed parameter. The program instructions may further implement the other process steps described above.
The computer readable media may be, for example, a fixed (hard) drive, diskette, optical disk, magnetic tape, semiconductor memory such as read-only memory (ROM), etc., or any transmitting/receiving medium such as the Internet or other communication network or link. The article of manufacture containing the computer code may be made and/or used by executing the code directly from one medium, by copying the code from one medium to another medium, or by transmitting the code over a network.
One skilled in the art of computer science will be able to combine the software created as described with appropriate general purpose or special purpose computer hardware, such as a microprocessor, to create a computer system or computer sub-system embodying the method of the inventions. An apparatus for making, using or selling the invention may be one or more processing systems including, but not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), memory, storage devices, communication links and devices, servers, I/O devices, or any sub-components of one or more processing systems, including software, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset thereof, which embody the invention.
When introducing elements of the present inventions or the embodiment(s) thereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.
As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the inventions, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/606,722 filed on Jun. 26, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,893,058, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60/419,673 filed on Oct. 18, 2002. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/606,723 filed on Jun. 26, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,888, which claims benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60/391,743 filed on Jun. 26, 2002. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/059,910 filed on Feb. 17, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,807. All of the prior applications cited in this paragraph are incorporated by reference herein.
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Parent | 10606722 | Jun 2003 | US |
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Parent | 10606723 | Jun 2003 | US |
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Parent | 11059910 | Feb 2005 | US |
Child | 10606723 | US |