Steady-State Motion of Railway Vehicles on Curved Track

A simplified linear theory of steady-state curve traversing is developed for bogie and two-axled vehicles. The approach is based on providing guidance by creep forces in conjunction with wheel conicity, so that flange contact is normally avoided. It is shown that this approach is realistic for a wide range of vehicle and track parameters. However, steering by creep forces is limited by the onset of wheel slip. Representative experimental results for a two-axled vehicle are presented.