Journal of Transsib Railway Studies V.1(49), 2022

The article is devoted to assessing the influence of diagnostic parameters for assessing the technical condition of the collector profile of rolling stock traction motors on the value of the mechanical force in the «brush-collector» contact. The results of the experimental studies of the parameters of the collector profile for traction motors EK810Ch of mainline electric locomotives 2ES6 are presented. Four-stage numerical experimental studies were carried out for the following conditions: the first stage - the height differences of the lamellas and harmonics were taken into account; the second stage - the height differences of the lamellas are taken into account without the influence of harmonics (with reduced beating); the third stage - harmonics are taken into account without the influence of differences in the heights of the lamellas (with reduced beating); the fourth stage - harmonics are taken into account without the influence of differences in the heights of the lamellas (with a multiplying factor up to a given beat). Using a mathematical model of brush movement along the collector, a degree of relationship was established between the diagnostic parameters that characterize the state of the traction motor collector profile, with the value of the mechanical force in the «brush - collector» contact. A diagnostic parameter is proposed that characterizes the spread of mechanical force values in the «brush - collector» contact of a traction motor, determined from the ratio of the force of elastic interaction of the brush with the collector and the average value of this force. An analysis of the results of the numerical experiment showed that the contact instability coefficient is largely determined by the value of the standard deviation of the lamella drops and, to a small extent, depends on the values of the harmonic amplitudes. The harmonic composition of the collector profile has practically no effect on the value of the contact instability coefficient at small values of the lamella drops. It is concluded that it is possible to use diagnostic parameters for assessing the state of the traction motor commutator surface to determine possible poor contact between the brush and the commutator. It is proposed to evaluate the quality of repair of collectors of traction motors taking into account the standard deviation of the differences of the lamella.

The article presents a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of automated systems for recording the work parameters of autonomous locomotives. The relevance of the use of such systems is due to the prevention of defects at the stage of identifying possible malfunctions during the operation of locomotives during the inter-repair periods. So the used systems of parametric diagnostics of power plants of autonomous locomotives are considered. Also, for comparison, the experience of foreign research on the use of a diesel locomotive monitoring system is presented. Despite the fact that the existing automated systems for registering the parameters of diesel locomotives have a wide range of functionality that allows you to obtain typical dependences of the power of a diesel generator set (DSU) on temperature and pressure, these systems do not take into account the peculiarities of the flow of in-cylinder processes that can significantly affect the power of the DSU. The article proposes a method for monitoring and adjusting the power of the diesel engine during operation by registering the operating modes of the equipment and determining the actual power of the diesel engine by expanding the range of diagnostic parameters by installing additional sensors for registering measured values for the accuracy of monitoring and tuning the diesel engine and making timely decisions on maintenance and repair of locomotives. A block diagram of the recorder of operating modes with the location of sensors for measuring informative parameters and a diagram of connecting the recorder to the power circuit using the example of a shunting diesel locomotive CHME3 is shown. Software has been developed that can be additionally installed in the standard automated system for registering the parameters of the operation of the CHME3 diesel locomotive with subsequent data processing.

To increase the speed of the cargo delivery, freight wagons are being developed, intended for the design speed of 140 km/h. One of the important parts of a freight wagon is the bogie, the design of which determines the wagon dynamic behaviour. The bogie of such wagons uses a frame of a rigid design, which is susceptible to antisymmetric loads. The analysis of standards has shown that the strength test during designing a rigid bogie frame under the impact of maximum antisymmetric forces that may occur in operation when a wheel derails is not required, which can lead to a residual antysymmetric deformation of the bogie frame. Theoretical research is performed to estimate the impact of the residual antisymmetric deformation on traffic safety using the wheelset safety factor against derailment. The research results have shown that the bogie frame residual deformation leads to a load redistribution on the wheelset axle journal, which, in terms of the impact on the wheelset safety factor against derailment, is similar to the wagon rolling motion. The wagon rolling motion affects the reduction of the wheelset safety factor against derailment to a greater extent than oscillations during pitching and bouncing. Thus, the permission to operate wagons with the antisymmetric residual deformation of the bogie frame without its non-destructive testing can lead to traffic safety violation. In order to ensure the traffic safety of wagons with bogies having rigid frames and reduce economic losses at the design stage, bogies strength depending on the action of antisymmetric forces should be estimated.

The paper is devoted to the evaluation of the possibility of effective use of recuperation as a key factor for the traction selection on a prospective railroad in the Russian Far East. The planned line will carry coal and general cargoes, shipping to Sea of Okhotsk ports and overseas. The construction of a new railroad will push development in the north of the Khabarovsk Territory and the northeast of the Amur Region. Due to the line will have a long descent to the seacoast, the main idea is to use the potential energy to generate electricity that covers power needed for oncoming trains going uphill. Performed traction-energy calculations allowed determining the available speed and energy consumption for uphill trains. Shown the ability of power self-sufficient train operations that provided under the condition of ensuring efficient energy exchange between electric locomotives located on the common feeding zone, which is possible only when freight trains operate on a fixed schedule. Given volumes of recuperated energy considered in the research cannot be stored onboard at autonomous locomotives using the existing level of technology, which confirms the need for electrification. The implementation of electric locomotives with an asynchronous traction drive and energy-efficient four-quadrant traction converters can provide an increase in the level of regenerative energy use compared to electric locomotives with zone-phase voltage regulation on traction motors. The proposed solution can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of railroad transportation on the line in question. The possibility of effective use of recuperative energy can use as a key selection factor for the type of traction on prospective railway lines.

In January 2022, a line of 2,000 cars formed at the Russian-Chinese border, waiting to be allowed to cross the state border [1]. The main reasons for the accumulation of a large number of vehicles at border checkpoints are restrictions on the movement of vehicles and cargo due to the difficult epidemiological situation, the lack of operational information interaction between transport organizations and regulatory authorities, insufficient capacity of the transport and terminal and logistics infrastructure. Consignors are switching to sending containers by rail, including the issue of piggyback transportation. In recent years, Russian Railways Holding has been actively developing a logistics service for the transportation of semi-trailers by rail, including in international traffic. Transportation of goods in piggybackers from the border provinces of the People's Republic of China towards the northeastern regions of Russia, where the transport infrastructure is poorly developed, difficult climatic conditions and irregular transport links, is an effective way to deliver goods to ensure an uninterrupted supply of the population of the region. As part of the strategy of the new Silk Road «One Belt - One Road» one can organize piggyback routes in the direction of Suifenhe - Grodekovo - Nizhny Bestyakh with the formation of the necessary cross-border terminal, logistics and transport infrastructure. The subject of this study is the analysis of the infrastructure of the Pogranichny railway checkpoint and the technological processes for organizing international piggyback transportation. The aim of the work is to develop a project for the infrastructure equipment of the terminal and logistics complex of the Pogranichny railway checkpoint for the organization of piggyback transportation. This paper uses theoretical research methods, including system analysis and information synthesis. By analyzing quantitative and qualitative indicators, operating technology and technical equipment of the Grodekovo station, the objects of the terminal and logistics infrastructure and issues that need to be addressed in the implementation of piggyback transportation were identified. The article presents the transport and technological schemes for the delivery of piggybackers, which are based on the functioning of terminal and logistics complexes, united by a single information space, and also considers the elements that affect the efficiency of organizing piggyback transportation. Transport industry experts predict a further increase in the volume of passage and transshipment of goods through the Far Eastern transport corridors, so the use of non-reloading transportation technologies and the implementation of the principles of «seamless» logistics will require reformatting the border terminal and logistics infrastructure with the introduction of digital services for the interaction of participants in international transportation.

The article assesses the state of the market of transport and cargo services in Uzbekistan, considers the problem of scientific justification of the rational placement of cargo facilities in the country. Analysis of the problems of transport services has shown that freight traffic flows have spread out, negative trends have manifested themselves in the form of regular growth in the cost of fuel and energy resources, tightening of regulatory requirements, growth of customs duties, sanctions in the form of cancellation of previously introduced benefits, and more. However, such indicators of rail freight transportation as the range of container transportation and average travel time are stable in rail traffic, i. e. the diversification of the cargo base and the tendency to full capacity utilization take place. Separately, it should be noted that rail transportation interacts with other transport industries - automobile, air, sea, river and other modes of transport - as partners, not as competitors - multimodal freight transportation is widely developed, special logistics agencies operate to ensure the organization of uninterrupted work during freight transportation. Uzbekistan's railways need to be reformed, and possibly restructured. At least, private capital funds are already being attracted to the system of private carriage operation. The article describes the scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, classification, mathematical statistics used in the study. A roadmap of qualitative transformations for the reorganization of the transport and cargo industry has been proposed, which will bring positive results for the transport infrastructure as a whole.The results of the study will further reveal the capabilities of terminal networks capable of providing in a short time the delivery of large volumes of necessary cargo to domestic and foreign markets, the uninterrupted functioning of the necessary infrastructure for the placement of cargo facilities on the railway network. The object of the study is the state of transport infrastructure with a decisive role in trade.

In connection with the traceable global trend of increasing average speeds in railway transport, more and more often they are trying to exclude the intersection of railways and roads. However, in the Russian Federation, only 40 % of railway crossings are located near settlements or on busy roads, the construction of two-level interchanges at the remaining crossings is not economically profitable, and sometimes difficult due to climatic conditions. Therefore, a different approach is needed to prevent incidents and accidents at crossings. At the same time, the need for an individual construction of a security strategy for each object of the transport infrastructure should be taken into account. At present, in the existing information systems of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the owners of the railway infrastructure, a fairly large amount of statistical information has been accumulated on incidents and traffic accidents at railway crossings. But most often these data are used for certificates containing absolute values in each of the departments. At the same time, the relationships between these disparate sources of information are not comprehensively analyzed. Modern technologies for creating intelligent information systems based on existing large databases and tools such as machine learning, intelligent search, neural networks make it possible to build an expert system based on a specific set of rules that can analyze the situation at a particular crossing, assess the likelihood of emergency situations and suggest ways to prevent them. In addition, it is important to analyze not only the infrastructure, but also specific units of vehicles and the accident-free performance of the drivers driving them. This article discusses the prerequisites and technology for building a knowledge base of an intelligent system used to analyze the level of safety at railway crossings, which will allow us to combine currently information about the factors accumulated in various systems that affect traffic safety at crossings and based on the accumulation of knowledge give a forecast of the development of the situation at each specific object.

In the Russian Federation, most railway accidents take place at passive level crossings. The majority of scientific papers on the topic of crossings deal with the improvement of active level crossings operation. At present, there is no effective way to improve safety at passive level crossings. The subject of the study is passive level crossings. The aim of the paper is to develop a set of preventive measures to avoid accidents at passive level crossings. The article describes the cases of traffic accidents at level crossings of the West Siberian railway, studies the scheme of passive level crossings and offers a schematic diagram of the accident prevention system at passive level crossings. The work algorithm of the accident prevention system at passive level crossings and the algorithm of giving the locomotive a notification of an emergency situation at passive level crossings are presented. Using the existing coding scheme of the train protection system as a transmission line for information about an emergency situation at a level crossing allows simplifying significantly the scheme of the developed system. The paper also calculates the maximum permissible time of occupation of the crossing by motor vehicles and the time of coding change in the automatic locomotive signaling system of continuous type. The proposed accident prevention system at passive level crossings does not require additional equipment to organize the communication channel and is cost-neutral. Equipping passive level crossings with this system will improve train safety, reduce the number of accidents and increase the efficiency of the railway transport complex in general.

The aim of the research presented in the article was to develop computer models for determining the electromagnetic fields (EMF) generated by three-phase 25 kV traction power supply systems (TPSS). In contrast to traditional single-phase TPSS, three-phase systems are electromagnetically balanced, provide symmetric loads of substations, increase voltages at current collectors of rolling stock, reduce asymmetry and non-sinusoidality in 110 - 220 kV supply networks. However, the issues of quantitative assessment of electromagnetic safety conditions in three-phase traction networks remain unstudied. To implement the formulated goal, we used the methods of modes and EMF simulation developed at the Irkutsk State University of Railway Transport, the distinctive feature of which is the use of phase coordinates; in this case, the models of TPSS elements are formed on the basis of lacelike equivalent networks. The simulation was carried out for three-phase TPSS schemes of different complexity, in which case the complex traction network was implemented by modifying the model of a real TPSS of one of the main railroads of Eastern Siberia. Simulation results indicated that compared to the typical TPSS 25 kV, the maximum electric field strength increases by 2.5 % in the three-phase system. The maximum value of the magnetic field strength decreases by 26 %. Similar indicators for average values are 2.6 and 19 %. The proposed methodology and the developed computer models can be used in the design of promising three-phase TPSS. In the conditions of power engineering digitization, the application of this technique in practice will allow to apply a scientifically validated approach to the analysis of electromagnetic safety conditions traction networks and to develop its improvement.

The problem of increasing energy saving when using fuel in heating furnaces of forging and thermal shops for heat treatment of metal under pressure treatment (forging and stamping) and heat treatment (quenching, tempering, carburizing and nitrocarburizing) is considered. Ways to improve energy saving in industrial furnaces and issues of reducing fuel consumption in thermal processes were studied. The problem of rationalizing the regeneration of low-grade heat of flue gases was not solved fully enough, since economic factors and the influence of the determining parameters on the temperature and thermal regimes of heat recovery plants were not fully taken into account. Thus, it is relevant to address the issue of the appropriate degree of recovery of the thermal potential of the gases leaving the heating furnace, finding the most favorable parameters of heat recovery plants. A criterion is proposed for assessing the effective level of the degree of utilization of the heat of exhaust gases at the outlet from the heating furnaces. It is proposed to evaluate the efficiency of the heat recovery plant and determine the optimal degree of heat recovery from flue gases leaving the heating furnace based on the difference in the changing costs for the construction and operation of the heat recovery plant. A method and an algorithm for determining the technically and economically feasible degree of utilization of low-potential heat of fuel combustion products after furnace units in a heat recovery unit have been developed. The developed algorithm provided the necessary optimality conditions, was checked for sufficiency by conducting studies on the existence of an extremum at the test point and the positivity of subsequent derivatives. The dependences of the economically viable temperature of the fuel combustion products after the heat recovery plant on the determining factors, basic values, price indicators and initial data are obtained, which, in the case of reconstruction and modernization of the furnace facilities of forge and thermal shops, minimize the costs of reconstruction and increase the efficiency of its use. The practical significance of the application of the proposed developments for practical use in the design, reconstruction and modernization of the furnace facilities of forging and thermal shops has been substantiated.

The article deals with the issues of joint use of a low-temperature solar collector and a heat pump in a solar heating system, the combination of which allows for high energy efficiency and stable operation of the system for the entire period of the year. The study and development of innovative technologies in alternative energy is a topical issue of today. Based on the actual statistical climatic data of the city of Omsk, a thermal calculation of the solar collector and the air heat pump in the heat supply system of the building was made. The values of solar insolation and the angle of inclination for the city of Omsk by months determined depending on latitude are given, the dependence of the change in solar insolation of the city of Omsk on the period of the year is plotted. The proposed scheme allows creating high energy efficiency and stable operation of the system during the summer and transitional months of the year. A method for calculating the generation of thermal energy using a combined system is given. The required number of tubes of solar vacuum tubular collector SVK-20A has been calculated. The work of an air heat pump and a solar collector according to a bivalent scheme is proposed, and a graph of the heat load of the heating system is also considered. The thermophysical properties of the working substance of a solar collector and an air heat pump are studied with a change in ambient temperature, the dependence of the freezing point of aqueous solutions of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol on the mass concentration of glycol is studied. A technical calculation of the COP coefficient for one of the educational buildings of OSTU was made. An effective option for using this system is proposed - heating systems «warm floor», «warm walls» or «warm ceiling».

The article describes three variants of the mathematical model of the sensitivity function of the magnetoinduction sensor for assessing the influence of various sensor parameters in the electromechanical system «wheel - rail - magnetoinduction sensor» for diagnosing the technical condition of the rolling surface of the rolling wheels of rolling stock in the process of its movement over the sensor. An example of an algorithm for identifying defects located on the surface of the wheel rolling circle is described. The proposed multi-vector mathematical model allows simulating various defects on the rolling surface of the wheel, developing and testing new algorithms for processing the output signal of the sensor on the basis of modern hardware and software. The implemented defect identification algorithm is based on the property of the centrally symmetric form of the sensitivity function of the magnetoinduction sensor and the allocation of a useful signal corresponding to a certain type of defect, based on the application of a mutual correlation function and the assessment of its maximum and minimum values in comparison with the specified thresholds and confidence intervals. The main requirement for the implementation of the model is the uniform movement of the train above the sensor along a straight section of the rail track. This article discusses only one of the possible digital signal processing algorithms, but the proposed model allows us to compare the efficiency of other possible algorithms identification of defects in the rolling surface of wheelsets. The developed model confirms the prospects of using magnetic induction sensors for identification of not only visible, but also hidden defects on the rolling surface of the wheel in the process of movement of the train.

The problem of optimizing train driving modes continues to be relevant for a long time, despite a large number of scientific research and development in this subject area. This is due both to the general complexity of the implementation of the technological process of running the train, and to parametric uncertainty and significant variations in the parameters of the control object itself and the external environment. Well-known methods for calculating energy-optimal train driving modes (calculus of variations, the maximum principle, dynamic programming) and auto-driving systems based on them assume some simplifications of the original problem, and, as a result, implement quasi-optimal control in practice. In this regard, the development of methods for searching for the global extremum of a functional defined on the set of permissible trajectories of a train as a dynamic system is both theoretically and practically a significant task. The aim of the work is to create a computationally efficient metaheuristic algorithm for searching for energy-optimal control as a global extremum of the objective function, the values of which are calculated using a reference model of the control object. The authors have developed a problem-oriented evolutionary algorithm for calculating the optimal control of train movement based on the theory of random search. Its features are the proposed specialized operators of local random search, taking into account the specifics of the control object as a multi-mode system; combined procedures of local and global optimization based on the concept of a multi-island population algorithm with superpopulation, as well as a method of selection (selection) of promising options based on the clustering algorithm. Computational experiments have shown good convergence of the algorithm and repeatability of the calculation results. Based on the solutions obtained, a train running time controller can be implemented that implements asymptotically optimal control.