Analysis of the conditions for the exhaustion of the stability margin in the rail track of freight cars with three-piece bogies

The research on improvement of methodical approaches to definition of the probable reasons of infringement of conditions of stability of freight cars from derailment is carried out. Using a basic computer model of the dy-namics of a freight car, the influence of the characteristics of the technical condition of their running gear and track on the indicators of empty cars stability from derailment was studied through the computational experi-ment. The article presents the main statements of the research methodology, which provides the analysis of probable causes of derailment of freight cars by conducting a series of numerical experiments with logging the progress of calculations and saving the results. Factor analysis was used to interpret the calculated data with an assessment of each of the factors influence or their combination on the probability of derailment. The developed procedure of the simulation experiment provides a step-by-step study of the freight cars derail-ment conditions, including factors structuring and ranking, development of experimental plan, calculating coef-ficients of wheel pairs resistance to derailment from rails, provided that the wheel flange rolls onto the rail head, and determining the degree of influence of relevant factors on the dynamic stability of cars from derailment. A comparative analysis of the stability of cars in rail tracks was performed using the introduced concept of the combined coefficient of stability of wheel pairs against derailment. Determining the probable causes of car derailment is based on scanning the parameter field. The results of the parametric study revealed the degree of influence on the freight cars stability of running gear technical condition characteristics. In particular, it is determined that the most dangerous in terms of stability loss of empty cars in the track is the exceeding of the wedges of the vibration dampers.