295

A mechatronic approach for effective

wheel slip control in railway traction
T X Mei1∗ , J H Yu2 , and D A Wilson2
1
School of Computing, Science, and Engineering, Salford University, Manchester, UK
2
The University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

The manuscript was received on 5 August 2008 and was accepted after revision for publication on 24 October 2008.
DOI: 10.1243/09544097JRRT249

Abstract: This article proposes a radically new approach for the detection of wheel slip/slide
and re-adhesion control of AC traction motors in railway applications, which provides an impor-
tant alternative and advantageous technique in traction/braking control systems to maximize
the use of adhesion in poor contact conditions. The proposed concept explores the variations in
the wheelset dynamic properties caused by the condition changes at the wheel–rail contact, and
detects and controls the slip conditions from the dynamic behaviour of a wheelset, indirectly. All
the dynamic motions of rail wheelset, which are closely related to wheel–rail contact mechanics,
are included in the study; the influence of contact conditions on the relevant modes is assessed,
which is essential in the development of a mechatronic solution based on dynamic interactions.
This is different from the more general approaches in many other studies on traction controls
where the inclusion of only wheelset rotation and longitudinal motions are considered as suffi-
cient. The development of the slip detection and re-adhesion control schemes is presented and
comprehensive simulation results are produced to support the proposed idea.

Keywords: railway adhesion, slip control, wheelset dynamics

1 INTRODUCTION the wheel rotational acceleration below a predefined

Railway traction is a complex mechatronic system,
since the traction motors and the associated con-
trols have to work in harmony with the complex
mechanical loads at the wheel–rail interface. A wheel
slip/slide occurs when the applied tractive effort
exceeds the level of maximum adhesion available at
the wheel–rail interface, e.g. in poor weather con-
ditions or with contaminated tracks. Apart from the
potential impact on normal operations of a rail net-
work, the wheel slip/slide causes undesirable wear to
both wheel/track surfaces and increases the cost of
maintenance. The most conventional wheel slip pro-
tection (or re-adhesion control) schemes detect a slip
by measuring and controlling the slip ratio (relative
speed between the two contact surfaces at the wheel–
rail interface), and in more extreme cases control
∗ Corresponding author: School of Computing, Science and Engi-
neering, Salford University, Manchester, M5 4WT, UK. email:
t.x.mei@theiet.org
threshold [1–4].
However, there are a number of practical constraints
in the detection approaches. The absolute speed of
the train is normally obtained from a trailer bogie
(or axle), but the provision of reliable train speed is
a problem when all the axles are affected, e.g. in brak-
ing. The requirement of robust/reliable sensors for
the harsh working environment limits the accuracy
of position/speed measurement. Typically, the resolu-
tion of position encoders used in traction applications
is <100 pulses/rev, which is particularly problem-
atic for low-speed measurement. The output of the
encoders can be affected by the vertical dynamics of
the wheelset/bogie, because the sensors are normally
mounted to count the number of teeth of the traction
gear and the output noises may be produced due to
the vertical vibrations of the gearbox/gears.
Furthermore, the wheel–rail contact characteristics
are subject to large variations and it is difficult to
ensure an optimal use of available adhesion because
there is no fixed relationship between the slip ratio
and the maximum adhesion. There have been studies

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296 T X Mei, J H Yu, and D A Wilson
on the use of the so-called disturbance observers
to detect the longitudinal creep forces and hence to
derive the rate of change on the slip curve [5, 6] with
the aim of optimizing the control of slip ratio. How-
ever, there seems to be little report on the practicality
and effectiveness of the approach.
This study investigates an indirect approach for
the wheel slip detection, which explores the desta-
bilizing effect of the poor contact conditions on the
torsional mode of a conventional solid axle wheelset,
and proposes a novel technique to detect the wheel
slip by identifying the variations in wheelset torsional
vibrations. There is no need for the measurement of
slip ratio and/or estimation of creep forces at the
wheel–rail interface. The utilization of the maximum
adhesion available is inherent for the control scheme.
The novel concept was first discussed in [7, 8], where
its feasibility was discussed and its control possibilities
were examined. This article provides a comprehensive
study of the new technique, including the develop-
ment of the initial idea, the analysis of the theoretical
basis, and the development of a practical slip detec-
tion and re-adhesion control scheme with the latest
findings from the research.
The article is organized as follows. The configuration
of the traction system used in the study is presented
and the mathematical models are provided in section
2. Section 3 describes the general principle and the
ideas behind the proposed slip detection approach.
Section 4 presents the development of a simplified
Kalman filter by using the available position encoders
to overcome the difficulty of measuring the torsional
vibrations from the wheelset axle directly. The over-
all re-adhesion control scheme is also introduced. The
performance assessments are given in section 5 and
the key conclusions are drawn in section 6.
2 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION AND MATHEMATICAL
MODELS
A standard powered wheelset assembly, as shown in
Fig. 1, is used in the study, which consists of a conven-
tional solid axle wheelset and a three-phase induction
motor connected to one side of the wheel via a gearbox
for the provision of traction (for the wheelset and 1/4 of
a typical vehicle). Connections between the wheelset
and the bogie/vehicle in the longitudinal direction are
assumed to be solid since the stiffness is normally very
high and the associated dynamics is not of significant
relevance to this study.
The models for the mechanical part of the systems
are complex. One of the key issues is the modelling
of the wheel–rail contact forces, which provides the
essential link between the output of the traction
motor and the mechanical load. The wheel–rail con-
tact mechanics involves the contact forces caused by
the so-called creepages between the wheel and rail
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Fig. 1 Plane-view diagram of wheelset configuration
surfaces, which are small relative velocities (in longi-
tudinal and in lateral directions) resulted from elastic
deformation of the steel at the point of contact.
The total creepages in the longitudinal direction of
the two wheels (termed as left and right wheels in the
study) of a wheelset are given in equations (1) and
(2), which are the combinations of the wheelset move-
ments (relative to the track) in the rotational, yaw, and
lateral directions [9]. The contribution from the lateral
movement is caused by the profiled wheel rims at the
contact with the track surface [9]
ωl r0 − v Lg ψ̇w ω l γ ( yw − yt ) L g
λxl = + − − (1)
v v v R
ωr r0 − v Lg ψ̇w ω r γ ( yw − y t ) L g
λxr = + − − (2)
v v v R
The total creepages in the lateral direction are the
same for the left and right wheel as given in equation
(3), which are the combinations of the wheelsets
movements in the lateral and yaw directions [9]. The
overall creepage of each wheel can be expressed in
equation (4) [10]
ẏw
λy = − ψw (3)
v


λ = λ2y + λ2x (4)
The overall creep force at the contact point is a
non-linear function of the creep and limited by the
adhesion available as confirmed by the measure-
ments from many experimental studies [10]. Gen-
erally, a creepage–creep force coefficient (µ = creep
force/normal load) curve shown in Fig. 2 can be parti-
tioned into three sections – the low creep or the linear
section (of the initial slope); the large creep or the non-
linear section (near and before the point of maximum
adhesion); and the slip or unstable region (beyond the
peak point). The dynamic behaviour of a wheelset is
closely affected by the contact forces and the operating
regions as it will be further illustrated later in the study.
The overall creep forces at the wheel may be computed
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 Mechatronic approach for effective wheel slip control
Fig. 2 Creepage and creep force characteristics
using creepage–creep force coefficient curves for any
given creepages.
There are strong interactions between different
motions of a wheelset through the creep forces at the
wheel–rail contact acting in both longitudinal and lat-
eral directions. It is, therefore, essential in the study
of wheelset dynamics and the development of effec-
tive slip control solutions, to develop and use a more
comprehensive model that include all motions of the
wheelset related to the contact forces. The total creep
force at the two wheels in the longitudinal direction
provides the essential tractive effort for 1/4 of a vehi-
cle, and therefore the equation of the forward motion
can be expressed in equation (5). The yaw movement
of the wheelset is affected by the difference in the lon-
gitudinal creep force between the two wheels and the
equation of motion is governed by equation (6), and
the lateral dynamics are determined by the total creep
force of the two wheels in the lateral direction as shown
in equation (7)
Mv v̇ = Ftr_x + Ftl_x
Iws ψ̈w = Ftr_x · Lg − Ftl_x · Lg − kw · ψw
mws ÿw = Ftr_ y + Ftl_ y
The torsional dynamics of the wheelset are often
neglected in the studies for traction control, as the axle
is relatively rigid and the natural frequency is typically
in the range of ∼60 Hz or above. However, the torsional
vibrations in the slip conditions have caused serious
problems in practice [11] and the detection of the tor-
sional vibrations forms the basis of this study. In this
section, a rigorous analysis of the wheelset axle is pro-
vided by considering the shaft elasticity and treating
the axle as a distributed parameter system. A sim-
plified model consisting of the dominant modes of
the wheelset is then deduced for the development of
the practical slip detection and re-adhesion scheme
proposed in the study
The free torsional vibration of the wheelset is gov-
erned by the partial differential equation as shown in
equation (8) [12], where the two boundary conditions
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297
exist for the left (x = 0) and right (x = L) wheels as
expressed in equations (9) and (10)
∂ 2 θ (x, t) ∂ 2 θ (x, t)
ρJ = GJ (8)
∂t 2 ∂x 2
∂θ(0, t) ∂ 2 θ (0, t)
GJ + τ0 (t) = Il (9)
∂x ∂t 2
∂θ(L, t) ∂ 2 θ (L, t)
− GJ + τL (t) = Ir (10)
∂x ∂t 2
The partial differential equation is solved in the
computer simulations in the study of the performance
evaluations of the proposed anti-slip control tech-
nique, but is not useful for the control development.
A detailed analysis in [13] shows that the common
rotational and the first torsional modes are dominant
in a wheelset, and therefore the torsional dynamics
may be approximated by using a simplified lumped
parameter model, in which only the first-order tor-
sional mode must be included as indicated in equation
(11). The rotational dynamics of the right wheel, which
is driven directly by a traction motor, and the left
wheel are therefore governed by equations (12) and
(13), respectively


Ts = ks (ωr − ωl )dt + C(ωr − ωl ) (11)
Ir (dωr /dt) = Tm − Ts − Ftr_x · r0 (12)
Il (dωl /dt) = Ts − Ftl_x · r0 (13)
The modern traction systems are mostly equipped
with induction motors controlled by the sophisticated
techniques such as field orientated vector control.
The dynamics of the traction motor and its associ-
ated control is an integral part of the traction system
and are included in the study to ensure that there will
(5) be no potential interactions with the anti-slip con-
(6) trol. An indirect vector control scheme is designed
in the study and used to provide a fast and accurate
(7) torque control of the motor for the provision of trac-
tive effort. The vector control techniques have been
well-reported in the past [14] and the schematic dia-
gram of the system modelled in the study is shown
in Fig. 3, where the model of a voltage source pulse
width modulation inverter (switched at a frequency
of 1 kHz) is included to provide the voltages to the
traction motor.
3 WHEELSET DYNAMICS AND SLIP DETECTION
The contact forces at the wheel–rail interface are
essential in the provision of the guidance control
and the delivery of traction for railway vehicles, but
can produce undesirable dynamic effect in more
extremely contact conditions.When the adhesion level
is high, contact forces at the wheel–rail interface are
approximately linear functions to the creepages, i.e.
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298 T X Mei, J H Yu, and D A Wilson

Fig. 3 Induction motor and indirect vector control

in the low creep and linear region, and the creep coef- the torsional torque waveform of a 40 Hz wheelset and
ficients are normally of large values. The large creep 80 Hz wheelset, respectively under the same contact
coefficients (in the order of MNs) provide a high level condition, where the frequency of the dynamic oscilla-
of damping to all dynamic motions of a wheelset, with tions agrees with that of the dominant torsional mode
the exception of the kinematic instability, which are of the wheelset axle.
in practice stabilized separately in the design of pri- The problem of the torsional vibrations may be tack-
mary suspensions [15]. In low adhesion conditions, it led at the design stage of rail vehicles by including
is much more likely that a wheelset would operate in sufficient damping to the system. However, the link
the non-linear or even the unstable region of the slip between the level of damping (or stability) for the
curve, where the damping effect is significantly lower
or becomes negative.
A stability analysis based on a simplified wheelset
model and linearized creep–creep force curves at indi-
vidual operating points is given in [7], which demon-
strates a strong link between the wheelset dynamic
behaviours and different contact conditions. Most
noticeably, it has been observed that there are poten-
tially two unstable modes in the wheelset when the
creep is increased beyond the point of maximum
adhesion. One is an unbounded increase in speed for
the common rotation of the two wheels indicated by
an unstable pole on the real axis. The other is the
torsional oscillations of the axle, which is indicated
by a pair of unstable conjugate poles [7]. The former
is obvious as the majority of the tractive effort from Fig. 4 Torsional torque (60 Hz axle)
the motor will be applied to accelerate the wheels
when the wheel slip occurs. The latter is considered
in the railway industry as a highly undesirable prob-
lem because they may lead to component failure or rail
corrugation [11, 16].
The presence of the axle torsional vibrations
observed in the practical applications may be con-
firmed in computer simulations by using the math-
ematical models presented in the previous section.
Figure 4 shows the torsional torque waveform of a
60 Hz wheelset (i.e. the frequency of the dominant tor-
sional mode is 60 Hz), where the wheel–rail contact
condition encounters a sudden drop of adhesion at
the time t = 4 s. The result reveals a typical torsional
oscillation at the torsional natural mode when a slip
occurs at the wheel–rail interface. Figures 5 and 6 give Fig. 5 Torsional torque (40 Hz axle)

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 Mechatronic approach for effective wheel slip control
Fig. 6 Torsional torque (80 Hz axle)
torsional mode of a wheelset and the wheel–rail con-
tact conditions provides an excellent indication for the
wheel slip, and therefore it is proposed in this study to
be explored for the development of an anti-slip control
scheme. As long as the wheel slip/slide can be effec-
tively controlled, no lasting oscillations and associated
damages to the contact surfaces are expected in the
wheelset.
4 SLIP DETECTION AND RE-ADHESION
CONTROL
4.1 Estimation of torsional vibrations with
practical sensing
Although the torsional dynamics provides an excel-
lent possibility for the wheel slip detection, the direct
implementation of the idea will be problematic in
practice as it requires a measurement of the tor-
sional torque. The strain gauges (or other torque
sensors) would have to be mounted on the (rotat-
ing) axle, which would present very difficult challenges
in terms of the sensor reliability and transmission of
the measured signals because of the harsh working
environment. Therefore, it is essential that the prac-
ticality of sensing is properly tackled. In this study, a
Kalman filter is developed to provide an estimation of
the torsional oscillations from the speed of the trac-
tion motor in the system. The speed measurement
in railway traction is always available and is normally
achieved through the use of inductive sensors to detect
the time shifts between the teeth of the traction trans-
mission gears; or to count the number of teeth, the
output of which is then used to derive the rotational
speed of the wheel or that of the traction motor as the
diameter of the wheel and the gear ratio are known
parameters.
The full mathematical model given in section 2
is unsuitable for the Kalman filter design since it
would lead to unnecessary complexity for the estima-
tor. There are also severe non-linearities especially the
creep–creep force characteristics that directly affect
the behaviour of the axle torsional mode. In this study,
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299
a simplification is first made by considering only the
motions that have a direct and the most dominant
effect on the torsional vibration, which are the rota-
tional motions of the two wheels – equations (12) and
(14). The torsional torque of the axle is included as
one of the states in the formulation, because it is the
focus of the estimation. The linearization needed in
this study is for the contact forces at the two wheels,
which have the non-linear creep–creep force charac-
teristics (as illustrated in Fig. 2) and it is achieved by
deriving a small signal model linearized at a selected
operating point of the non-linear curves based on the
principle of first-order approximation. The resulted
linear small signal model is shown in equations (14)
and (15), where the output measurement (i.e. input
to the Kalman filter) is the rotational speed of the
right wheel, which is where the traction motor and
the gearbox is assumed to be mounted in the study
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
ω −k /I 0 −1/Ir ωr
d ⎣ r⎦ ⎣ 1 r
ωl = 0 −k2 /Il 1/Il ⎦ · ⎣ ωl ⎦
dt Ts ks −ks 0 Ts
⎡ ⎤
1/Ir
+ ⎣ 0 ⎦ Tm + w (14)
0
⎡ ⎤
  ωr
y = 1 0 0 · ⎣ ωl ⎦ + v (15)
Ts
where E(wwT ) = Qkf , E(vvT ) = Rkf , k1 , and k2 are lin-
earization coefficients that reflect the slope at any
particular operation points (i.e. the rate of change)
on the creepage–creep force curve at the right and left
wheels, respectively.
The values of k1 and k2 are dependent upon the oper-
ating point of the creep–creep force curve where the
linearization is carried out, and strictly the small signal
model is only valid at the particular point. To provide a
more precise estimation of the torsional torque across
the entire operating conditions, either an extended
Kalman filter or the use of a bank of filters linearized at
different points may be more desirable. However, this
would lead to a much more complex structure and
may even require additional sensor measurements.
In this study, a compromise is made between the
model complexity and the estimation accuracy. A sin-
gle Kalman filter is designed based on k1 and k2 values
deduced from a point in the saturation region of the
creep–creep force curve. The resulted Kalman filter
in the form of equation (16) is simple in structure
(third-order) and therefore easy for practical imple-
mentation, where L is the Kalman gain which can be
precalculated
ẋˆ = Ax̂ + Bu + L(y − Cx̂) (16)
Due to the compromise in the design, only a partial
estimation of the torsional vibration (variation) can
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300 T X Mei, J H Yu, and D A Wilson
Fig. 7 Torsional torque variation (60 Hz axle)
Fig. 8 Estimated torsional torque variation (60 Hz axle)
be achieved. However, as it is revealed in the simu-
lations, the Kalman filter can provide the estimation
sufficient for the slip detection and appears to be rea-
sonably robust in a variety of different slip conditions.
Note that the Kalman filter estimates the variations in
the torsional vibration rather than the absolute vibra-
tions because of the small signal model. An initial
performance assessment can be made using simula-
tion examples given in Figs 7 and 8, which give the
original torsional torque variation from the simulation
where the vehicle is accelerated from an initial speed
of 10 km/h and the estimated result from the Kalman
filter, respectively. Although a close match is not
achieved and there are clearly differences, the Kalman
filter manages to capture the essential component of
the torsional oscillations at the right frequency.
The estimations may be further compromised by
the accuracy and quality of the speed measurement
that is available from the practical sensors used in
the railway vehicles. The type of sensors that are reli-
able and robust enough for the railway applications
typically provide a measurement with the resolution
no more than 100 pulses/rev, which is much less pre-
cise than the optical encoders used in conventional
motor drives and can substantially affect the estima-
tion results of the Kalman filter. Figure 9 shows the
estimation result of the Kalman filter (with the sensor
resolution of 100 pulses/rev), which is much noisier
than that shown in Fig. 8. On the other hand, the noises
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Fig. 9 Estimated torsional torque variation with posi-
tion sensing error (60 Hz axle)
do not necessarily appear at the frequency that coin-
cides with that of the torsional mode, and hence the
effect on the estimation of the torque to detect the
wheel slip at a specific frequency is expected to be lim-
ited as illustrated next and in section 5, even though
the performance of the Kalman filter appears to be
compromised.
4.2 Kalman filter based slip detection
The estimated output of the Kalman filters may be
further processed to extract the magnitude of the tor-
sional vibration signal at the frequency corresponding
to the axle torsional mode by using conventional fil-
tering methods. A band pass filter is used and tuned to
coincide with that of the torsional mode of a particu-
lar wheelset that is normally known. The output of the
filter is then processed in a rectifier to detect the mag-
nitude before a low pass filter that removes any noises
and other disturbances in the system.
Figures 10 and 11 show the obtained magnitude of
the estimated vibration variations – one with the ideal
measurement and the other with practical sensing as
given illustrated in Figs 8 and 9, respectively. Both
results indicate a rapid increase in magnitude in the
slip condition after the time t = 4 s, whereas the mag-
nitude in the normal condition (i.e. non-slip) is very
small as can be seen before t = 4 s. Therefore, a thresh-
old detector may be used to enable a fast detection of
the slip conditions.
4.3 Overall re-adhesion control scheme
Once a wheel slip is detected, the control actions
can be applied to reduce the tractive effort until the
torsional oscillations disappear that would be at a
level just below the maximum adhesion available in
the stable region of the creep–creep force curves.
The reduction of the tractive effort must be appropri-
ate such that (a) the problem of wheel slip is overcome
and (b) the use of adhesion is optimized to deliver the
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 Mechatronic approach for effective wheel slip control 301

the magnitude Tmag exceeds a pretuned threshold and

an enabling command will be generated. A classical
proportional integral (PI) controller is used to deter-
mine the deduction of the tractive demand, until the
adhesion is restored and Tmag falls below the threshold.
The input to the control is the detected magnitude of
the torsional vibrations so that the level of wheel slip
(hence that of the oscillations) will also affect the rate
of deduction in the tractive effort.

Fig. 10 The magnitude of the estimated torsional torque

at the torsional frequency 5 PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS

For the performance assessments, a typical profile of

the tractive effort demand is used in the simulation
as shown in Fig. 13. After an initial time period of t0 =
1.5 s, the torque demand is increased linearly with time
to limit the rate of acceleration (or jerk) for the reason
of passenger comfort. At the time ta = 2 s, the motor
output reaches the rated torque, which is also limited
in the design for passenger comfort and the demand is
then kept at the constant level. Once the rated power
of the motor is reached (at tb ), the torque demand is
reduced to maintain a constant power output when
the vehicle speed is increased.
The performance of the proposed control scheme
Fig. 11 The magnitude of the estimated torsional torque
is evaluated by using a variety of different operation
with position sensing error
conditions and condition changes, as presented below.

Condition 1: An initial speed of 10 km/h, the tor-

sional frequency of the axle 60 Hz; the maximum
adhesion is reduced suddenly at the time t = 4 s from
a dry condition (µ = 0.4) to a low adhesion at µ =
0.05. Figure 14 compares the wheel speed with that
of the vehicle (converted to the rational equivalent).
At t = 4 s the contact condition is changed causing a
severe wheel slip, where the rotational speed of the
wheels becomes substantially greater than the equiv-
alent of the vehicle speed. The wheel slip in turn causes
the torsional vibrations in the axle, the magnitude of
which at the torsional frequency is detected from the
estimations by using the Kalman filter with a posi-
Fig. 12 Re-adhesion control scheme
tion sensor as illustrated in Fig. 15. The magnitude
of the vibration is then detected in a small fraction

most traction possible. Figure 12 shows a block dia-

gram of the proposed re-adhesion control scheme. The
blocks outside the dashed frame represent the main
components in a conventional traction control sys-
tem without the re-adhesion control. The proposed
scheme for the wheel-slip detection and re-adhesion
is shown in the dashed frame. The measurement of
the motor speed is fed to the Kalman filter, which is
tuned to estimate torsional torque variations Ts_est .
The estimated output is then fed to the filtering unit
to extract the magnitude of the signal at the natural
frequency of the wheelset axle Tmag . In the threshold
detection unit, a slip is deemed to have occurred if Fig. 13 Tractive effort demand

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302 T X Mei, J H Yu, and D A Wilson
Fig. 14 Re-adhesion performance with position sensing
error (60 Hz axle)
Fig. 15 Detected magnitude of the axle torsional vibra-
tion (60 Hz axle)
of a second and used to reduce the demand in trac-
tive effort. Then the torque output from the traction
motor is reduced accordingly after the torque reduc-
tion controller is enabled and the wheel speeds are
‘pulled’ back to the vehicle’s speed in ∼1 s to restore
the adhesion.
Condition 2: An initial speed of 10 km/h, the tor-
sional frequency of the axle 40 Hz and 80 Hz; the
maximum adhesion is reduced suddenly at the time
t = 4 s from a dry condition (µ = 0.4) to a low adhe-
sion at µ = 0.05. For the wheelset with different tor-
sional frequencies, the proposed slip detection and
re-adhesion control scheme works equally effectively.
Figures 16 and 17 present the results indicating that the
re-adhesion is achieved in < 1.5 s and 1 s, respectively.
Fig. 16 Re-adhesion performance with position sensing
error (40 Hz axle)
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Fig. 17 Re-adhesion performance with position sensing
error (80 Hz axle)
Fig. 18 Re-adhesion performance with position sensing
error (60 Hz axle)
Condition 3: An initial speed of 10 km/h , the tor-
sional frequency of the axle 60 Hz;but the vehicle
is accelerated on the track with the low (initial) at
µ = 0.05. Figure 18 shows the speed difference in the
slip condition and Fig. 19 shows the magnitude of the
natural frequency component (60 Hz) from the esti-
mated torsional torque variation. In this case, the slip
develops in a slower manner than the condition of
the sudden change and the re-adhesion is achieved
after two attempts. The torque reduction was not large
enough in the first instance, because of the more gen-
tle occurrence in the wheel slip with a slower increase
Fig. 19 Detected magnitude of the torsional vibration at
the natural frequency (60 Hz axle)
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 Mechatronic approach for effective wheel slip control
Fig. 20 Re-adhesion performance with position sensing
error (60 Hz axle)
in the level of torsional vibrations. Since the controller
keeps monitor and adjusts the traction demand con-
tinuously, any long lasting wheel slip is prevented
though the tractive effort available is still applied.
Condition 4: An initial speed of 100 km/h, the tor-
sional frequency of the axle 60 Hz; the maximum
adhesion is reduced suddenly at the time t = 4 s from
a dry condition (µ = 0.4) to a low adhesion at µ = 0.05.
At the higher speed of 100 km/h under the sudden
change of adhesion, the detection of the wheel slip
(in ∼0.7 s) appears to be slower because of the less
rapid increase in the relative wheel speed, i.e. the
wheel slip is less severe. The entire time for slip detec-
tion and re-adhesion is ∼3 s as demonstrated in Fig. 20.
6 CONCLUSIONS
An effective use of the maximum adhesion avail-
able without causing any damaging wheel slip is an
important and challenging requirement in the railway
traction. A new concept for the slip detection and re-
adhesion control has been presented in this article.
Unlike the conventional anti-slip control techniques,
the new control strategy does not require the accu-
rate measurement of train speed or information about
the slip ratio, either of which can be problematic to
obtain in practice. Since the slip detection is based on
the observation that the wheel slip is closely linked to
the wheelset torsional vibrations, it inherently enables
an optimal use of the adhesion regardless of the
uncertainties/variations of the contact characteristics.
The novelty and potential usefulness of the pro-
posed new anti-slip control strategy have been clearly
demonstrated, which are also supported by the
simulation-based performance assessments in a vari-
ety of adverse conditions. Further work is on going
to improve the estimation of the torsional vibrations
and to verify experimentally the proposed technique.
It may also be needed to include and study possible
interferences of other wheelset dynamic modes on the
torsional vibrations and investigate the potential effect
on the proposed control scheme.
JRRT249 © IMechE 2009
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303
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APPENDIX
Notation
C material damping of the wheelset axle
(Nm/rad/s)
Proc. IMechE Vol. 223 Part F: J. Rail and Rapid Transit
304 T X Mei, J H Yu, and D A Wilson

Ftl_x longitudinal creep force at the left v measurement noise vector

wheel (N) v vehicle speed (m/s)
Ftr_x longitudinal creep force at the right w process noise vector
wheel (N) x state variable vector
Ftl_ y lateral creep force at the left wheel (N) yt track lateral displacement (m)
Ftr_ y lateral creep force at the right wheel yw wheelset lateral displacement (m)
(N)
Il inertia of the left wheel (kg m2 ) γ wheel conicity
Ir inertia of the right wheel (kg m2 ) θ rotation angle of wheel (rad)
Iws wheelset yaw inertia (kg m2 ) λ total creep at a contact point
k1 , k2 linearization coefficients (Nm/rad/s) λxl longitudinal creep at the left wheel
ks torsional stiffness of wheelset axle λxr longitudinal creep at the right wheel
(Nm/rad) λy lateral creep
kw yaw stiffness of wheelset (Nm/rad) µ adhesion coefficient
Lg half gauge (m) µo , µm , µs adhesion coefficients in the linear
mws wheelset mass (kg) region, maximum adhesion and slip
Mv equivalent vehicle mass driven region respectively
by the traction system on the wheelset τ0 , τl the external torque applied to the right
(kg) and left wheels of a wheelset (Nm)
r0 nominal wheel radius (m) ψw wheelset yaw angle (rad)
R curve radius of track input (m) ωl , ωl rotational speed and speed difference
Tm tractive effort demand (Nm) of the left wheel (rad/s)
Ts , Ts torsional torque and torque difference ωr , ωr rotational speed and speed difference
(Nm) of the right wheel (rad/s)

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