Investigation of the application of adjustable air suspension under traction control for heavy haul locomotives

During operation in traction or braking modes, a locomotive's body weight distributes between bogies in different proportions depending on many factors. Each bogie and wheelset thus realises a different traction coefficient. The adhesion coefficient is not only dependent on the tractive or braking effort, but also on vertical wheel loading. Designs of a Co-Co locomotive equipped with adjustable secondary air suspension to optimise adhesion are studied in this work. The proposed solution is verified during numercal experiments using rail vehicle multibody modelling software. Results show that it is possible to improve weight utilisation compared with a standard locomotive equipped with rubber elements.