A method for setting wagon speed restrictions based on wagon responses

This article presents a method to set wagon speed restrictions based on wagon body accelerations. For the specific locomotive, wagon conditions and track states, an individual wagon critical speed may be determined from its running stability. Furthermore, stability can be evaluated by a wheelset derailment index, which is determined by the ratio of lateral and vertical wheel-rail contact forces. Providing the information on the critical speed online has, without doubt, significant industrial application potentials. The research efforts in this article are focused on the estimation of wheel-rail contact forces using measured wagon body accelerations.