Since Electro-Motive Division's (EMD) 3-axle radial steering bogiefor heavy haul freight locomotives was introduced in production in 1993,over 70 million miles of service have already been accumulated on thisnew design. By the end of 1996, over 800 AC and DC traction locomotiveswith this new bogie technology will have been put into service. Wheelwear data, which is relatively straightforward to obtain, is showingthat wheel flange wear has been virtually eliminated and that wheeltread wear has not increased in spite of dramatic increases in adhesionto 45% for starting heavy trains and to 35% and higher for trainoperation. Wheel wear data indicates that wheel life will likely double,even in operations where wheels are re-profiled for tread wear. This isdue to the profound effect of low flange wear on minimizing metalremoved in wheel truing. The wheel wear results also suggest changes totraditional railroad wheel truing policies. The effect of the radialbogie design on rail wear savings is more difficult to assess, and thispaper discusses several rail wear considerations. Laboratory tests haveprovided considerable insight into the influence of wheel-rail angle ofattack on wheel and rail wear. An approach is suggested for combiningthe available field and lab data with a cost model to project the lifecycle cost savings for rail wear as well as wheel wearimprovements
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