Strategies to simulate wheel–rail adhesion in degraded conditions using a roller-rig

Railway vehicles adopt mechatronic devices to maximize the traction/braking effort. These systems often use complex algorithms that require long experimental validation tests on track. The possibility to perform the same tests on a roller-rig gives the opportunity to simplify the validation activity, under safe conditions, and to reduce the costs. The main challenge is to be able to reproduce the same adhesion conditions on a roller-rig with respect to the track, especially in degraded conditions. First, the paper shows experiments performed to reproduce degraded adhesion on a conventional roller-rig for a single wheelset. Then, an innovative roller-rig is proposed in order to reproduce the effect of the passage of several wheelsets on the track.