Rail friction condition estimation and its implementation for traction control of locomotives

This paper describes the development of an approach for obtaining contact friction characteristics between wheels and rails. The algorithm developed allows estimating of friction parameters for a hauling locomotive and uses a low computational cost solution based on the existing approaches and input signals from sensors. Confidence in the estimation of the obtained friction characteristics is confirmed through for a validation process comparing simulation results with input data parameters. The proposed friction detection algorithm has been tested by means of a co-simulation approach between the Gensys multibody rail vehicle simulation package and the Simulink package.