Thermal models of railroad wheels and bearings

Authors

Kevin D. Cole
Constantine Tarawneh, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Arturo A. Fuentes, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Brent Wilson
Linda Navarro, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2010

Abstract

The rolling surface for railroad wheels can be a heat source that may have an impact on the performance of the wheel bearing. In this study, experimental data from an electrically-heated railroad wheel set is analyzed by constructing thermal models of the wheel set. A steady finite-element model, a steady-analytical model, and a transient lumped-parameter model are discussed. Model parameters are determined from careful comparisons with the experimental data. The lumped-parameter model given here is intended as a simple predictive tool for determining when wheel heating caused by rail operations will have an impact on bearing temperature. The model parameters found in this study will also be useful as experimentally-validated boundary conditions in ongoing finite-element studies of heated wheels.

Comments

Original published version available at doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2010.01.031

Recommended Citation

Cole, Kevin D., et al. "Thermal models of railroad wheels and bearings." International Journal of Heat and mass transfer 53.9-10 (2010): 1636-1645. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2010.01.031

Publication Title

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

DOI

10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2010.01.031