Wheel/rail adhesion plays an important role in rail traffic and significantly influences the system’s performance, e.g. concerning stability of traffic or also LCC. Nevertheless it cannot be guaranteed that there is always sufficient adhesion available to transfer the necessary traction/braking forces. Hence, there are technical solutions for the improvement of the trains’ behaviour at low adhesion conditions. As those can still be enhanced, there need to be requirements for the according developments. The work described within this paper and performed in the frame of the collaborative Shift2Rail PINTA project is the basis for the definition of those requirements. A collection of adhesion data was performed during a unique measurement campaign using locomotives at various contact conditions and vehicle parameters. The quality of the measured data is significantly higher compared to other data available as the measurements were performed at constant speeds and without the influence of any commercial vehicle function, as e.g. wheel slide protection (WSP). Analysis showed for example the effect of sanding on adhesion conditions, the adhesion peak behaviour, the adhesion behaviour concerning different contaminants and speeds as well as self- and cross improvement effects. Although the number of measurements performed during the campaign is not fully sufficient yet, first results, e.g. concerning a new sanding strategy, could be deduced.

Marcus Fischer, Knorr-Bremse Systeme für Schienenfahrzeuge, Germany; Ferenc Szekely, Knorr-Bremse Hungária Kft., Hungary; Matteo Frea, Faiveley Transport, a Wabtec Company, Italy; Steffen Jennek, Siemens Mobility GmbH, Germany