CQ TYPE HEAVY HAUL COUPLER

Jiang Yan
Chief Designer, Senior Engineer
Dalian Research and Development Centre, Qiqihar Railway Rolling Stock, Co., Ltd., Dalian, China

SUMMARY
To provide a reliable heavy haul coupler with a long fatigue life to meet increasing transportation volumes
and safe operation for its customer in Australia, Qiqihar Railway Rolling Stock (QRRS) Co. Ltd. developed
the CQ heavy haul coupler. It is interchangeable with the existing coupler as a whole assembly, and it is
expected that its fatigue life will increase by 50% to 100%. This type of coupler now has been fitted to more
than 2000 40t axle load ore cars designed and produced by QRRS for the customer. This paper presents
details of the main coupler structure, working principles and technical performance as well as test and
operation.
INTRODUCTION The coupler as an overall assembly shall meet
customer requirements for interchangeability.
Australia has been one of the leading countries in
operating heavy haul rail transportation, supported (2) Small clearance for coupling contour
by advanced technologies and products, for many Coupler contours shall be designed to have
years. According to information we have, for one of small clearances to reduce train longitudinal
our customers in Australia, for the 15 years up to impulses but be able to couple safely with
2003, trains consisted of 220 cars to transport existing couplers.
28,000 tons of ore [1]. From 2004 to present, train
(3) Larger structural strength reserve
weights have increased to 35,000 tons, 38,000
tons, and in some cases even to 44,000 tons with Critical locations such as upper and bottom
300 cars in the train. The axle load increased from pulling lugs shall have more strength reserve
32t to 37.5t and even 40t in the last three years. than current customer rotary and fixed
However with continuous increases of couplers with less structural stress.
transportation volume, existing couplers exhibited (4) Flexible and reliable operation
increasing incidents such as cracking and breaking
of the coupler body and knuckle due to insufficient The coupler shall have flexible and reliable
strength and short fatigue life. This posed threats operation of the closing and opening functions.
to safe operation and restricted further increases in (5) Reliable anti-creep function
volume. The locklift system shall have special anti-
At the invitation of the customer, QRRS completed creep functions so as to prevent the coupler
a design and named this new type coupler CQ-1 from automatically opening due to train
(rotary) and CQ-2 (fixed) in May of 2010. longitudinal impulses and/or malfunction of the
In September of 2010, prototypes and small uncoupling lever.
batches of products were tested for assembling, 1.2 Features
interchangeability, and coupling as well as static
strength, minimum static ultimate load and fatigue In consideration of the customer’s practice of
life. continuous dumping without uncoupling cars,
the CQ-1 rotary coupler and CQ-2 fixed
In January of 2011, 20 couplers were fitted onto 10 coupler were designed at the same time with
ore cars of 40t axle load and trialled for one year. reference to the above standards and
The trial operation provided positive results. So in principles. The features of these two couplers
March of 2012, CQ couplers were fitted on all 93 of are as follows:
the 40t axle load ore cars of the first batch and on
subsequent batches of more than 2000 cars from (1) They are interchangeable with existing
2013 to 2014. couplers in whole, and can be fitted to existing
freight cars.
1. CQ COUPLER DESIGN
(2) They can couple safely with existing
1.1 Principles couplers and have a smaller coupling contour
to reduce train longitudinal impulse. With the
(1) Interchangeability new coupler, longitudinal coupling clearance
was reduced by more than 30%.
IHHA 2015 Conference
21 – 24 June 2015
Perth, Australia
Yan Jiang CQ Type Heavy Haul Coupler
QRRS

(3) The fatigue life of the coupler body is better bottom locklift assembly and CQ-1 bottom
than the customer coupler by more than 50% locklift shaft, as shown in Figure 1.
and the fatigue life of the knuckle is slightly
higher than that of the existing knuckle.
(4) Critical components such as knuckle,
coupler lock, knuckle thrower and locklift are
interchangeable between the CQ-1 and CQ-2
couplers to reduce maintenance costs and
quantity of components required on site.
(5) The CQ-1 coupler was designed
incorporating a new type of locklift system that
is independent from the uncoupling lever of
the car, to ensure normal coupler rotation.
(6) To prevent coupler breaks and resulting
car damage, the CQ-2 coupler was designed
to prevent two CQ-2 couplers from being
coupled.
(7) The CQ-2 coupler was designed to have a 1 CQ-1 coupler body; 2 CQ-1 knuckle; 3 CQ-3
locklift assembly at both sides for easy and lock assembly; 4 CQ-1 knuckle thrower;5 CQ-
flexible train operation. 1 knuckle pin; 6 release spring; 7 retainer ring;
1.3 Main Parameters 8 CQ-1 bottom locklift; 9 CQ-1 bottom locklift
shaft
The main parameters of the CQ couplers are
Figure 1 CQ-1 Coupler Structure Diagram
shown in Table 1.
2.2 CQ-2 Coupler
Main Parameters CQ-1 CQ-2
With reference to The CQ-2 coupler mainly consists of the CQ-2
AAR S-117 and coupler body, CQ-1 knuckle, CQ-3 lock
Coupling contour Chinese railway assembly, CQ-1 knuckle thrower, CQ-1
standard TB/T2950
knuckle pin, CQ-2 bottom locklift assembly,
Long. coupling 8mm CQ-2 bottom locklift shaft, CQ-2 shaft sleeve
clearance and coupler carrier plates, as shown in Figure
Max. lateral swing 13.0° 13.0° 2.
angle
Max. lateral shift at 158mm 164mm
coupling line
Max. relative rotation
angle at horizontal 5.1°
plane
Permissible height
difference in coupler 75mm
center lines when two
couplers couple
Min. ultimate load on ≥4005kN
coupler body [3]
Min. ultimate load on ≥3000kN
coupler knuckle
Weight ≈230kg ≈255kg
Table 1 Main Parameters of CQ Couplers 1 CQ-2 coupler body; 2 CQ-1 knuckle; 3 CQ-3
2. MAIN STRUCTURE lock assembly; 4 CQ-1 knuckle thrower;5 CQ-
1 knuckle pin; 6 CQ-2 bottom locklift shaft; 7
The CQ coupler incorporates features CQ-2 shaft sleeve; 8 CQ-2 bottom locklift; 9
described above including small clearance and coupler body carrier plate
optimized structures.
Figure 2 CQ-2 Coupler Structure Diagram
2.1 CQ-1 Coupler
2.3 Coupling Contour of Small Clearance
The CQ-1 coupler mainly consists of the CQ-1
coupler body, CQ-1 knuckle, CQ-3 lock CQ couplers have coupling contours of small
assembly, CQ-1 knuckle thrower, CQ-1 clearance designed with reference to customer
knuckle pin, retainer ring, release spring, CQ-1 coupler standard interchangeability dimension,
IHHA 2015 Conference
21 – 24 June 2015
Perth, Australia
Yan Jiang CQ Type Heavy Haul Coupler
QRRS

Chinese railway standard TB/T2950 “Coupling pulling force that forces it to rotate around the
Contour for Locomotive and Rolling Stock” knuckle pin to the full open position. This open
and AAR S117 Coupler Contour, F Type, position is shown in Figure 4.a and 4.b.
Interlocking [2]. Consideration is given to
ensure anti-creep, anti-separation and anti-foul
coupling functions to achieve safe and reliable
coupling performance.
The longitudinal clearance of the coupling
contour for CQ couplers is 8mm, smaller by
59%. The estimated largest longitudinal force
can be reduced by around 30%.
Figure 4.a CQ-1 Coupler Opening Position
3. PRINCIPLES AND PERFORMANCE OF
THREE FUNCTIONS OF CQ COUPLERS
Three functions of the coupler are opening,
closing and full opening. The principles and
performance of the three functions are
described below.
3.1 Closing
Figure 4.b CQ-2 Coupler Opening Position
After coupling, couplers have to be at the 1 lock seat of coupler lock; 2 locking face of
closed position to transmit the pulling force. thrower
When the knuckle is rotated to its closed Figure 4 Coupler Opening Position
position, the coupler lock sits at the lock seat
of the knuckle tail. At this time, the coupler 3.3 Full Opening
lock locking face is against the knuckle locking One coupler must be at the full open position
face, and the knuckle cannot rotate around the before it automatically couples with another
knuckle pin and open. This is the locking coupler.
position, as shown in Figure 3.a and 3.b.
At the open position, the operator must again
move the bottom locklift lever until it stops.
The knuckle thrower is rotated along with it
and the knuckle is forced to turn around the
pin to the full open position. The full open
position is shown in Figure 5.a and 5.b.

Figure 3.a CQ-1 Coupler Locking Position

Figure5.a CQ-1 Coupler Full Open Position

Figure 3.b CQ-2 Coupler Locking Position
1 coupler lock seat; 2 knuckle lock seat; 3
locking face
Figure 3 Coupler Locking Position
3.2 Opening
If two coupled cars are to be separated, one
coupler shall be at the open position. Figure 5.b CQ-2 Coupler Full Open Position
The operator must move the bottom locklift Figure 5 Coupler Full Open Position
lever to rotate the bottom locklift and raise the
lock to the height where the lock stays at the
lock seat of the knuckle thrower. The lock
moves from the closed position to the open
position. At this time, the knuckle cannot
automatically open, unless it experiences a
IHHA 2015 Conference
21 – 24 June 2015
Perth, Australia
Yan Jiang CQ Type Heavy Haul Coupler
QRRS

4. PRINCIPLES AND PERFORMANCE OF THE

ANTI-CREEP FUNCTION
4.1 CQ-1 Coupler
The coupler anti-creep function can prevent
the closed coupler from opening due to
vibration and rotation of the car, and thus
prevent car separation.
The CQ-1 coupler anti-creep performance is
achieved by four anti-creep components, 1 coupler body anti-creep face; 2 bottom locklift lever
namely the bottom locklift lever anti-creep, anti-creep
bottom locklift shaft anti-creep, bottom locklift Figure 6.a Structure and Principle of Level 1
anti-creep and lock block anti-creep. Anti-Creep of CQ-1 Coupler
4.1.1 Bottom locklift lever anti-creep and
bottom locklift shaft anti-creep functions
When the coupler is at the closed position, a
force from the release spring pushes the key
of the bottom locklift shaft (anti-creep) into the
bottom of the locklift lever. The bottom locklift
lever is moved and the anti-creep mechanism
of the bottom locklift lever is forced to be at
same level as the anti-creep face of the 1 bottom locklift shaft key; 2 coupler body key
coupler body. This will prevent the bottom hole; 3 bottom locklift lever shaft hole
locklift assembly from rotating. This coupler
anti-creep position is shown in Figure 6.a. It is Figure 6.b Structure and Principle of Level
known as the level 1 anti-creep position, often 2 Anti-Creep of CQ-1 Coupler
referred to as bottom locklift lever anti-creep.
At this time the locklift shaft anti-creep
mechanism fits in the coupler body bottom
locklift shaft hole. The locklift shaft cannot be
rotated, as shown in Figure 6.b. This is the
level 2 anti-creep position referred to as
bottom locklift shaft anti-creep.
4.1.2 Bottom locklift anti-creep function
This anti-creep function prevents the coupler
from opening due to movement of the lock
during car operation and dumping. When the
lock moves toward the open position, the 1 coupler knuckle anti-creep; 2 bottom locklift anti-creep
bottom locklift moves upward and its anti-
Figure 6.c Structure and Principle of Level 3
creep component contacts the knuckle anti-
Anti-Creep of CQ-1 Coupler
creep mechanism, which stops further upward
movement of the bottom locklift. This lock
stops the bottom locklift from moving toward
the open position, as shown in Figure 6.c. It is
the level 3 anti-creep function.
4.1.3 Lock block anti-creep function
The lock block anti-creep functions in the
same way as the bottom locklift anti-creep to
prevent the lock from moving toward the
opening position during car dumping. The lock
moves out of the lock chamber first in dumping
so as to stop the lock moving further toward
the open position, as shown in Figure 6.d. It is
the level 4 anti-creep function.
1 block; 2 coupler body upper lock chamber
Figure 6.d Structure and Principle of Level 4
Anti-Creep of CQ-1 Coupler

IHHA 2015 Conference

21 – 24 June 2015
Perth, Australia
Yan Jiang
QRRS
4.2 CQ-2 Coupler
The CQ-2 coupler anti-creep performance is
achieved by three anti-creep functions, namely
bottom locklift anti-creep, bottom locklift lever
anti-creep and lock block anti-creep.
4.2.1 Bottom locklift anti-creep function
This is the same mechanism as the CQ-1
coupler bottom locklift anti-creep and is shown
in Figure 7.a. It is the level 1 anti-creep
function.
1 knuckle anti-creep; 2 bottom locklift anti-creep
Figure 7.a Structure and Principle of Level
1 Anti-Creep of CQ-2 Coupler
1 coupler body anti-creep; 2 bottom locklift lever
anti-creep
Figure 7.b Structure and Principle of Level
2 Anti-Creep of CQ-2 Coupler
Bottom
locklift
anti-creep
Knuckle
locklift
anti-creep
1 block; coupler upper lock chamber
CQ Type Heavy Haul Coupler
Figure 7.c Structure and Principle of Level
3 Anti-Creep of CQ-2 Coupler
4.2.2 Bottom locklift lever anti-creep function
This is basically the same mechanism as the
bottom locklift lever anti-creep of the CQ-1
coupler. The bottom locklift lever slides along
the guiding face of the bottom locklift shaft key
toward the coupler head under the effect of
coupler vibration and rotation, so that the
bottom locklift lever anti-creep is at the same
level with coupler anti-creep mechanism and
contacts with it. This stops the whole bottom
locklift rotating and prevents the lock from
moving away from the locking face of the
knuckle. This level 2 anti-creep function for the
CQ-2 coupler is shown in Figure 7.b.
4.2.3 Lock block anti-creep function
Again the mechanism has the same principle
as that of the CQ-1 coupler. It is the level 3
anti-creep function and is shown in Figure 7.c.
5. PRINCIPLE AND PERFORMANCE OF ANTI-
SEPARATION MECHANISM
The coupler anti-separation mechanism is
needed to prevent coupler separation due to
an excessive height difference of two couplers
resulting from the car pitching, bouncing or
curving.
The CQ-1 coupler has the same anti-
separation mechanism as the CQ-2 coupler.
Both have a bottom shelf at the bottom of the
coupler body front face to prevent two coupled
couplers from disengaging in the vertical
direction, as shown in Figure 8.
1 CQ-1 coupler bottom shelf; 2 CQ-2 coupler
bottom shelf
Figure 8 CQ-1 and CQ-2 Coupler Bottom Shelf
6. PRINCIPLE AND PERFORMANCE OF ANTI-
FOUL COUPLING OF CQ-2 COUPLERS
The CQ 2 coupler coupling contour is different
from the CQ-1 coupler as it incorporates a
IHHA 2015 Conference
21 – 24 June 2015
Perth, Australia
Yan Jiang CQ Type Heavy Haul Coupler
QRRS

special structure to prevent foul coupling on met the requirements. Figure 11 shows a
the outside of coupler pivot lug and the end of photograph of the test set up.
coupler arm. So when the two CQ-2 couplers
are to connect, the special structures contact
first, and prevent the two couplers connecting
further with each other, as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 11 Coupler Static Tension Proof Test

(5) CQ coupler rotating and coupling
Pivot lug end to performance test
achieve anti-foul The CQ couplers were tested for rotating and
coupling coupling performance in November of 2011
under the load cases shown in Table 2. A
Figure 9 Couplers with Anti-Foul Coupling photograph of the test is shown in Figure 12.
7. TESTS The rotation results showed that CQ couplers
and associated followers, connection sleeves
(1) Assembly test and coupler butt pins moved smoothly as
An assembly test was conducted to ensure the required and the couplers have the required
couplers can be properly assembled with good coupling performance.
coupling performance, interchangeability and Load
Condition Coupler center line Angle
with the required features described previously. case
(2) Inner solidarity test Vertical
Tension Horizontal height
Prototypes of the coupler body and knuckles 1
compression centering difference
were sectioned for solidarity examination at 0mm
critical locations and results showed that they Vertical
Tension 180°
met requirements of QCP878 “CQ Coupler 2
Horizontal height
Technical Specification”. compression centering difference reciprocal
80mm
rotation
(3) Static strength test CQ-1 lateral
Vertical (50 times
Prototypes of the CQ-1 coupler, the CQ-2 Tension shift by each for
height
3 30mm. CQ2
coupler and the knuckles of the CQ-1 coupler compression lateral shift
difference clockwise
were subjected to static strength testing in 0mm and counter
by 30mm clockwise)
August of 2010 in the product lab of QRRS. CQ-1 lateral
Test results showed that stresses at critical Vertical
Tension shift by
height
locations of the coupler body and at the root of 4 30mm. CQ2
difference
compression lateral shift
upper and lower pulling lugs of the knuckle 80mm
by 30mm
met the requirements. Figure 10 shows a
photograph of the test set up.
Table 2 Coupler Rotating Test Load Cases

Figure 10 Coupler Static Strength Test

(4) Static tension proof test
Prototypes of the CQ-1 coupler, the CQ-2
coupler and the knuckles of the CQ-1 coupler
were subjected to static ultimate strength
testing in August of 2010 in the product lab of Figure 12 Coupler Rotating Test
QRRS. Test results showed that the minimum (6) Fatigue test
ultimate loads of the coupler body and knuckle
IHHA 2015 Conference
21 – 24 June 2015
Perth, Australia
Yan Jiang
QRRS
Fatigue tests were conducted on the CQ
coupler body to evaluate the CQ coupler
fatigue reliability. In the fatigue test, a
simplified fatigue load test spectrum
(50~1300kN), jointly compiled by QRRS and
Beijing Jiaotong University [4], was applied at
a frequency of 2Hz in a form of constant
amplitude triangle wave.
Test results [5] show that the fatigue life of the
CQ-1 coupler body and CQ-2 coupler body
both were higher than existing coupler bodies
by 50% to 100% and the fatigue life of the CQ-
1 knuckle was slightly higher than existing
knuckle.
(7) Trial operations
After all the above tests proved positive, the
couplers were produced in small scale and put
onto 10 ore cars of 40t axle load for trial
operations starting in January of 2011 for one
year. The trial operations proved satisfactory.
Therefore in 2012 more than 90 cars were
fitted with CQ couplers, and up to December
of 2014, a total of 2600 ore cars of 40t axle
load produced by QRRS have now been fitted
with CQ-1 and CQ-2 couplers.
CQ Type Heavy Haul Coupler
CONCLUSION
(1) Heavy haul coupler technology is one of the
critical technologies for heavy haul
transportation. Large scale implementation of
the CQ coupler in heavy haul transportation in
Australia has proven its advantages.
(2) The CQ coupler has features such as higher
tensile strength, smaller coupling clearance,
reliable performance and long service life, with
all performances as per AAR standards and
customer special requirements.
REFERENCES
[1] Coupler Performance of Iron Ore Car for New
Generation [D], Railway Engineering Meeting,
Darwin Port, June 20-23, 2004
[2] AAR S-117 Coupler Contour, F Type,
Interlocking [S]. U.S.A., 2003
[3] AAR M-211 Foundry and Product Approval
Requirements for the Manufacture of Couplers,
Coupler Yokes, Knuckles, Follower Blocks and
Coupler Parts, U.S.A.: 2010
[4] Xie Jilong, Jiang Yan, Coupler Fatigue Test
Method for Train of 10,000, 20,000 and 40,000
tons [D], Beijing Jiaotong University, June 2010
[5] Jiang Yan, Jin Pengdi, CQ Coupler Fatigue
Reliability Test Report [D], QRRS, December 2013
IHHA 2015 Conference
21 – 24 June 2015
Perth, Australia