Analysis On Wheel-Rail Contact & Study For Downsizing Of The Wheel Of The Port Machinery

Currently port machinery is getting larger, heavier and more efficient; the size of the load-bearing wheel or the number of load-bearings must be increased, according to the classic formula of the allowable wheel load. As a result, the height of gravitational center of the whole machine is raised; this is unfavorable to the stability, wind resistance, shock resistance and other properties of the port machinery. The classic formula is based on the Hertz elastic theory, which is a little conservative. In order to analyze the actual bearing capacity of the wheel, the relationship between wheel and rail is studied comprehensively using a combination of nonlinear finite element method and experimental method in this paper.The main research contents are as follows:Firstly, elastic-plastic analysis is conducted on the simplified 2-D wheel-rail rolling contact using nonlinear finite element theory. This provides a reference to the 3-D analysis afterwards. Also the influence of friction coefficient to the 2-D problem is studied based on a simple 2-D model.Secondly, elastic and elastic-plastic analysis is conducted on the wheel which diameter is 630mm and the frequently-used rail QU120. The load-stress curve is obtained and provides reference for actual design of the wheel.Thirdly, the roller wheel of the 4000t 360 Degree Revolving Floating Crane is studied by testing method. Comparing the testing results and the finite element results, it is proved that the research method adopted in the paper is reliable.Finally, the probability of the downsizing of the wheel is discussed based on the previous analysis.The analysis indicates that the employment of nonlinear finite element method to the contact analysis of the wheel-rail of port machinery is practical, and provided a new thinking for the design of wheel.