Running dynamics of railway vehicles equipped with torsionally flexible axles and partially independently rotating wheels

The paper discusses the fully non-linear behaviour of railway vehicles whose axles are considered as torsionally flexible. Critical speeds of the ERRI Wagon available in the library of the selected multibody software are investigated with different axle stiffness in order to evaluate any possible reduction in the dynamic characteristics at high speed. All these analyses are applicable to a novel wheelset arrangement where individually supported wheels are connected by a torsionally flexible shaft where the wheels can be easily changed and the axle subjected to rotational bending is replaced by two fixed stub axles. In a further development, the connecting shaft is equipped with a torque limiter. Steering and stability are discussed in order to identify any potential drawbacks in this arrangement.