STANDARD CAR TRUCK COMPANY
&
The cast three-piece bogie
A brief overview
BARBER
STANDARD CAR TRUCK COMPANY
865 BUSSE HIGHWAY
PARK RIDGE
ILLINOIS, 60068
The North American interchange system and the
Association of American Railroads (AAR) is the
worldwide industry leader in the railway freight car
business.
Comprehensive standards which have been regulated,
changed and added to over many years
Amount of revenue in the American freight industry
The demand by the customer to receive a better
product For less money
Experimentation, innovation and testing
Advantages of adhering to the AAR standards
Lower cost equipment
Lower cost spares
Access to new technology developed for leading
American railroads
Utilization of the depth of knowledge already
invested in cast three-piece bogies
RailRoads only add transport costs to the product
they move.
In order to stay competitive operating costs must be
kept to a minimum.
Conventional cast three-piece bogie nomenclature
Bogie Performance
For a bogie to perform efficiently it must remain square.
A square bogie benefits from the following:
Improved curving
Reduced shelling
Increased wheel life
Reduced rolling resistance
Improved stability
Bogie performance
For a bogie to remain square its ‘Warp Resistance’ must be
greater than its ‘Turning Moment’.
Squaring forces on a three-piece bogie
Unsquaring forces on a three-piece bogie
Bogie lozenging due to insufficient ‘Warp
Resistance’
Bogie performance
When ‘Warp Resistance’ is greater than ‘Turning Moment’
bogies benefit from the following:
The‘Hunting’ threshold is increased.
A reduced angle of attack between wheel and rail is
achieved.
Less wear between the wheel and the rail.
Reduced rolling resistance (better fuel consumption).
Lateral forces which act to ‘spread’ the rails and can
cause low rail roll over derailments are lowered.
Conventional three-piece bogie at warped and non-
warped condition
Conventional three-piece bogie on
tangent track
Warped three-piece bogie on
curved track
Bogie performance
The dynamics of a cast three-piece bogie in motion
Bogie performance
Why is the profile on a rail wheel tapered?
To allow the wheelset to automatically re-center.
From a track ‘hit’ the wheel will get larger on one
side and smaller on the other. This is due to a
tapered wheel profile.
Wheelset performance after a track ‘hit’
Bogie performance
The Wheel/Rail interaction which causes ‘Hunting’ is the
biggest problem facing the efficiency of three-piece bogies
today
Impact on wheelset and subsequent hunting
Impact on wheelset and subsequent hunting.
Causes of hunting
The ‘Warp Resistance is too low
The wheel profile is too steep or the wheel has worn
hollow
The bogie being worn
If the clearances between the pedestal and the adapter
are too large
No Damping
Amplitude
Time
Amplitude
Time
Damping
Damping
Constant Damped
Variable Damped
Damping
Damping
Both use lateral force to impart friction
Both use friction to impede vertical motion
Because of friction there is wear in the contact areas
As wear increases the lateral force decreases
Friction wedges and wear plates must be replaced
after a certain amount of wear
Constant Damped Suspension Systems
Constant Damped Suspension System
Maintains a constant force on the column regardless
of load
At empty/loaded car the same damping action will
apply
The force applied to the column is directly
proportional to the characteristics of the spring inside
the friction wedge
At empty car the system is over-damped
At loaded car the system is under-damped
Constant
Damped
Suspension
System
Constant Damped Suspension System
Constant Damped Suspension System
Disadvantages
Disassembly of bogie is time consuming and needs
additional, bulky equipment
Wear surfaces difficult to repair
Cost of bogie higher
Cost of spares generally higher
More wear due to steel friction wedge
Steel wedge limits the scope for effective damping
System tends to be under damped or over damped
Under Damped
Amplitude
Time
Amplitude
Time
Over Damped
Variable Damped Suspension Systems
Variable Damped Suspension System
Force on the column increases in direct proportion to
the load on the car
Pre-load created at empty car
As the load in the car increases, the damping level of
the bogie also increases to accommodate
Directly proportional damping to load relationship.
Variable Damped Suspension System
Variable Damped Suspension System
Variable Damped Suspension System
(S-2-Series)
The S-2-HD is the leading cast three-piece bogie in
the world
Approximately 70% of the bogies in service in the
North American interchange system are of the Barber
design.
Almost 4 million bogies in service worldwide
S-2-HD Variable Damped Suspension System
Advantages
Maintains a higher ‘Warp Resistance’ proportional to
the load than other bogies
Easy to assemble & disassemble
Higher lateral column forces allowed due to Iron
friction wedge
Wear surfaces easy to repair
Friction wedges easy to replace
Correct damping at any condition
