Theoretical study into efficiency of the improved longitudinal profile of frogs at railroad switches

Abstract

We have developed a comprehensive method to prolong the time of operation of frogs at railroad switches, based on the consideration of a longitudinal profile of the frog, the magnitude of dynamic forces and normal stresses. We have improved a longitudinal profile of the frog, brand 1/11, project 1740, by the method of surfacing under field operation conditions. The slopes of a trajectory after the passage of an average statistical wheel over the proposed profile amount to 3.7 ‰ instead of 10 ‰ for a standard profile of the frog. It was established that increasing a load on the frog to 60 % at the expense of a deflection under the frog beam leads to the accelerated disarrangement of the frog, as a result of fatigue defects at the rolling surface, while the cost of frog operation in this case increases by five times. We modeled a dynamic interaction between the rolling stock and a standard, as well as the proposed, longitudinal profiles of frogs. Calculation of dynamic processes of the nonlinear interaction between the rolling stock and a standard profile of the frog and the profile restored by surfacing, showed that the magnitude of forces for the proposed frog at the motion speed of 150 km/h is 50 % lower compared with a standard longitudinal profile. At linear simulation of dynamic additions of forces, the magnitude of forces decreases for the proposed profile to 30 %. We employed a graphical method to calculate the magnitudes of axial inertia moments and the moments of resistance in the characteristic cross sections of the frog. The estimation of the stressed-strained state of the frog was performed using equations of five moments for a continuous beam on elastic point supports. It was established that stresses at the static calculation of the frog are low and are much less than the maximum permissible magnitude of stresses for a given grade of steel. Therefore, we can argue that the frog works under a load at the expense of existing reserve of strength.