Friction wedge design optimized for high warp friction moment and low damping force

摘要

A damping system for a rail car truck utilizes friction wedges supported on side springs (16) to damp relative movement between the rail car truck bolster (14) and the side frames (10,12) supporting it. Each friction wedge has a generally triangular shape with an angle θ defined between a vertical friction surface (22) which bears against a side frame and a sloping friction surface (24) which moves relative to the bolster. The angle θ and the force P of each side spring are defined by a pair of simultaneous equations.