Research on the compression stability mechanism and its optimisation of coupler with arc surface contact

In order to improve the adaptability of the coupler with arc surface contact to the demanding operating environment of heavy-haul trains, the compression stability mechanisms were analysed. The angle evolution process of the force transmission line when the coupler is gradually rotated from the centring state to the maximum structure angle is derived, as well as a proposal for the coupler self-stabilising ability. Based on the theoretical analysis, a more detailed dynamic model of the coupler with arc surface contact has been established in which the friction and contact characteristics of both coupler tail and coupler head are considered. Then the model is used to simulate the dynamic behaviour of the coupler with different radius matching relationships. The research results indicate that the effective way to improve the running safety of a heavy-haul locomotive under buff condition is to make full use of the self-stabilising ability of the coupler on the premise of not affecting the adhesion ability of the coupler tail. Based on the above research work, an improved scheme is proposed in this paper. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.