Experimental investigation on vibration characteristics and frequency domain of heavy haul locomotives

This paper aims to investigate the vibration characteristics and frequency domain of heavy haul locomotives at operation speed of 70 km/h based on the field test. A 10000t freight trains that included double HX-type heavy haul locomotives and 105 C80-type freight wagons, was used to conduct an on-track field tests. Test results indicate that suspension systems of locomotives can effectively attenuate high-frequency vibration induced by wheel-rail interface excited by the track irregularity. Axle box vibration energy distributes in a wide frequency range which includes both low-frequency and high-frequency vibrations, while the vibrations of bogie frame and car body mainly concentrated on low-frequency ranges. Forced vibrations induced by sleepers (32.1 Hz) can be transmitted from axle box to bogie frame and car body, and contribute to significant vibration energy, especially for bogie frame. Besides, although vibration energy induced by wheel perimeter (5.0 Hz) is a small proportion of both axle box and bogie frame vibration, it has a significant effect on car body vibration. According to UIC-518, test locomotives have an excellent hunting stability at operation speed of 70 km/h .