Colin Cole

• PhD in Longitudinal Train Dynamics
• Research Director at Central Queensland University

In recent years, significant development activity has been seen in battery electric and hydrogen locomotives. To fully understand the potential benefits of these zero‐emission technologies and their application in locomotive design, a design study utilising a digital twin framework can be employed. While current research on the use of digital twins...

This paper presents the development of a dynamics model for long track sections. It is based on an established short track model that utilises the Finite Element Method to describe rails and block models to describe sleepers, ballast and subballast. By implementing a parallel computing method, this innovation enables the construction of a true long...

Virtual coupling of railway trains is an emerging technology that has the potential to significantly in-crease railway operational efficiency by reducing the train following distance from absolute braking distances to relative braking distances. Current research in this topic is mainly focused on passenger trains and uses distance based headways. T...

The effect of lubrications on a curved track to heavy-haul wheel-rail contact wear is studied. To analyse wheel-rail contact wear damage due to existing high-adhesive AC locomotive, a methodology for investigation is proposed, and the locomotive models are required to run at 20 km/h under maximum traction efforts, and the simulations include a DC l...

This paper developed a scalable parallel computing method that can be used for platoon simulations and controller validations. A scalable adaptive platooning control law was firstly designed, which accommodates a variety of vehicle-to-vehicle communication topologies. A road vehicle dynamics model that considered the Magic Formula tyre model and su...

Several models of a non-linear rail three-piece bogie container wagon have been developed by using GENSYS software to study the effects of the initial excitation conditions to the determination of rail wagon’s critical hunting speed and the trajectories and characteristics of the wheelset lateral movement during wagon hunting. The effect of uneven...

The wear and rolling contact fatigue (RCF) testing approaches for wheels and rails have been reviewed and evaluated in this study. The study points out the advantages and limitations of the existing approaches. The broad analysis revealed that scaled laboratory-based wear testing is widely applied. However, it is necessary to predetermine the input...

The proper representation of friction contact conditions between each wheel and the rail is necessary to accurately model the behaviour of a heavy haul locomotive since friction conditions at the wheel-rail interface affect the locomotive’s dynamic performance under traction and braking conditions. In normal operations, a phenomenon commonly known...

As efforts are being made to quickly adopt zero carbon technologies and replace fossil fuel powered trains, the design requirements are explored using train dynamics simulations to establish energy needs. The test case was a freight train of 3030 gross tonnes consisting of two locomotives and thirty wagons operating on a relatively flat coastal rai...

The information that automated train control (ATO) systems use to improve safety and reduce power usage is limited by on-board and wayside monitoring applications and computing power. This paper presents an augmented digital twin for railway applications that enables real-time consideration of derailment risk in train operations. The augmented digi...

A digital twin is aimed to be a virtual model designed to accurately replicate a physical system in the digital world. This is why digital twins have become quite popular in recent years in both rail and road domain applications, and some researchers and engineers have started considering the term as a buzz word that attracts increased interest in...

Conventional longitudinal train dynamics (LTD) simulations apply several assumptions regarding wheel-rail adhesion and its control is not considered. This paper linked an in-house LTD simulator to a commercial MBS dynamics simulator via the TCP/IP protocol. A heavy haul train with the configuration of 3 locomotives + 150 wagons was modelled. The wa...

A new wave of research interests on train braking dynamics has been raised which requires more accurate and faster train braking dynamics simulations. Simulations with fully nonlinear fluid dynamic air brake models and nonlinear friction draft gear models are more accurate, however these are not yet available. This paper developed a model that has...

Locomotive-track interaction is commonly represented by a complex mechanical system which is modelled in numerical studies. Numerical studies alone are not enough to precisely describe the behaviour of this mechanical system due to the various elements that can only be delivered from field and laboratory experimental programs. One such element is w...

The development of train dynamics models usually started with simplified empirical air brake models. Fluid dynamic air brake models are sometimes required for train dynamics simulations to utilise their advantages in physical descriptions and model scalabilities. Due to the high complexity of fluid dynamic air brake models, the most economic approa...

This paper studied an emerging technology called Dynamic Coupling which aimed to allow physical coupling and decoupling of railway trains at cruising speeds. A train controller and a train model were introduced and simulated by using Parallel Computing. Two transitional gap references were designed (hyperbolic tangent and exponential). Two six-vehi...

Detailed simulations of car and train platoons are critical steps towards successful implementations of the platooning technologies. This paper developed a simulation method that can be used for both car and train platoon simulations. The method includes three main parts: (1) a scalable adaptive longitudinal space controller, (2) 2D multibody dynam...

Railway locomotive traction performance is strongly dependent on the friction condition between wheel and rail at the contact interface. One of the major factors affecting the friction condition at that interface is the third body layer. This layer as experienced by each wheelset of a locomotive is partially if not fully eliminated from the contact...

This paper developed a track model called the ‘Loop Track’ that had a new function to simulate infinite long tracks without heavy data movement. The model was three-dimensional and considers rails, sleepers, ballast, subballast, and subgrade. Rails were modelled by using the Finite Element Method whilst all other components were modelled as equival...

Train dynamics models used during Virtual Coupling controller development are usually simplified. Controller validations and system examinations are critical steps towards real-world implementations of this emerging technology. This paper developed a parallel computing architecture for high-fidelity Virtual Coupling simulations. Multibody train dyn...

In recent years, there have been significant activities in the development of hybrid, battery electric and alternative fuel (e.g., LPG, LNG, CNG) locomotives. However, to date there is a limited number of publications on the usage of such modelling and simulation approaches for hydrogen-powered rail vehicles, and almost no publications on hydrogen-...

This paper introduces a solution to deliver the relation between the contour and real contact areas considering characteristics of surface geometry based on the adaptation of a tribological method [1] for calculation of the real area of contact and the real pressure between two rough surfaces. The implementation in the wheel-rail coupling architect...

Detailed simulations of car and train platoons are critical steps towards successful implementations of the platooning technologies. This paper developed a simulation method that can be used for both car and train platoon simulations. The method includes three main parts: (1) a scalable adaptive longitudinal space controller, (2) 2D multibody dynam...

Locomotive multibody simulations are commonly used as a cost-effective tool to study, energy efficiency, wheel-rail wear, rolling contact fatigue, etc. The accuracy of the wheel-rail contact forces from multibody simulations depends on the correct modelling of the friction conditions. The friction coefficient is a function of the slip velocity, and...

Knowledge of creep forces at wheel-rail interface when high power is applied to the locomotive wheels has been the subject of many recent studies. The common wheel-rail interaction methods are generally divided by two theories – Hertzian and non-Hertzian. The first method uses Hertzian contact for the normal problem and the tangential problem is di...

There currently does not exist in industry a reliable method for the detection of rail foot flaws. Like their head-based counterparts, foot flaws result in broken rail with potentially catastrophic consequences. A proposed area of research for the detection of these flaws is thermography, a non-contact method of measuring and analysing infrared emi...

A special methodology for the delivery of the change of friction coefficients has been developed. The results obtained with the proposed methodology are analyzed using the processing of raw data stored by the hand-operated tribometer. The analysis requires making some assumptions for the generation of input parameters for wheel-rail contact. One su...

Rail damage prediction is a complex task because it depends on numerous tribological parameters and the dynamic conditions produced by the vehicles operating at different speeds and configurations. Shakedown maps and Whole-Life-Rail-Model/T-Gamma have been used to predict rail damage, but they involve assumptions that may reduce their accuracy. Thi...

Locomotive design is a highly complex task that requires the use of systems engineering that depends upon knowledge from a range of disciplines and is strongly oriented on how to design and manage complex systems that operate under a wide range of different train operational conditions on various types of tracks. Considering that field investigatio...

As a major component of the locomotive, wheels have great importance to realize their functions such as load carrying and power transmission through interactions with the track. However, the polygonised wheels will aggravate the dynamic performance of the locomotive and accelerate the component failures. Monitoring of the wheel polygonization is ve...

Despite the well-known variability of friction conditions in friction damping systems it is often assumed by necessity that ‘typical’ friction conditions exist in all friction components in a larger system. Following some surprising results in laboratory tests of friction type draft gears modelling of stick slip behaviour has been attempted. The mo...

Light rail vehicles (LRV) are becoming more attractive for urban centres as a sustainable mass transportation solution. The tight curves and short transitions that characterise urban LRV networks lead to high wear and undesirable vehicle dynamics that can be avoided with active suspensions or traction control algorithms. This paper presents a compa...

The distribution of load placements on wagons, i.e., the Centre of Gravity (CoG) of wagons, and the distribution of loads between wagons in the train configuration, i.e., train make-up, can significantly change the train operational dynamics and, in some circumstances, contribute to derailment of wagons and wheel/rail damage (wear and Rolling Conta...

Full-scale 3D train-track dynamics simulations for long heavy haul trains have not been reported. Successful implementations of such simulations can unlock a series of research topics such as vehicle derailments in train operational environment and track dynamics behaviour under train forces. This paper introduces a method that can be used to devel...

The modeling of a heavy haul locomotive is a quite challenging task because it requires introducing multidisciplinary knowledge in the final model design. Common methods of modeling heavy haul locomotives are well described in recent publications. However, design and modeling approaches for both bogie traction control and independent wheelset tract...

This paper is an outcome of an international collaborative research initiative. Researchers from 24 institutions across 12 countries were invited to discuss the state-of-the-art in railway train air brake modelling with an emphasis on freight rains. Discussed models are classified as empirical, fluid dynamics and fluid-empirical dynamics models. Em...

Unlike other current carrying power conductors, the railway overhead contact wire is unique because it is subjected to direct interaction with the pantograph conductor. And due to the absence of an insulating layer, the contact wire is more susceptible to environmental factors. Thus, the temperature variation is not only contributed to by Joule's h...

Interest in hydrogen-powered rail vehicles has gradually increased worldwide over recent decades due to the global pressure on reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, technology availability, and multiple options of power supply. In the past, research and development have been primarily focusing on light rail and regional trains, but the interest in...

Hybrid locomotive concepts have been considered as a step towards converting the railway industry into a green transport mode. One of the challenges in integrating a hybrid locomotive in the train consist is that the battery pack in the locomotive needs to be recharged during a long-haul trip which requires stopping of the train. A typical battery...

Rail foot flaws have the potential to cause broken rails that can lead to derailment. This is not only an extremely costly issue for a rail operator in terms of damage to rolling stock, but has significant flow-on effects for network downtime and a safe working environment. In Australia, heavy haul operators run up to 42.5 t axle loads with trains...

The production–inventory system is a problem of multivariable input and multivariant output in mathematics. Selecting the best system control parameters is a crucial managerial decision to achieve and dynamically maintain an optimal performance in terms of balancing the order rate and stock level under dynamic influence of many factors affecting th...

Advanced health monitoring of unpowered heavy haul and general freight railway wagons is still an emerging field, limited by the lack of electrical power on-board the vehicles and the cost of instrumenting massive fleets. This paper presents a dynamic verification of an on-board wheel flat detection technique that, using analogue signal processing,...

The draft gear is a key component in a railway train system. The stochastic feature of dry friction in the draft gear has been observed by many researchers, however, characterisation studies in this regard have not been published. This paper used a state-of-the-art laboratory testing rig to measured draft gear forces and deflection responses to sin...

Development of railway transportation capabilities towards high-power, high-speed and heavy axle-load makes the dynamic interactions between the electric drive subsystem and the mechanical subsystem of a locomotive more intensive and complicated, which may threaten the locomotive operational safety. However, the included dynamics mechanism and infl...

The aim of this paper is to examine the beneficial impact of feedback information in the dynamics of production-inventory control systems. Two production-inventory control system models are analyzed: APIOBPCS and 2APIOBPCS models. The simulation-based experiment designs were conducted by using the state-space equations of the two models. The bullwh...

As a form of wheel tread failure, a wheel flat becomes increasingly severe in a large axle-load heavy-haul locomotive due to emergency braking or skidding idling. The presence of a wheel flat will cause additional impact forces at the wheel-rail interface which is likely to cause a more rapid fatigue failure of locomotive and infrastructure compone...

Combined track defects (multiple types of track defects occurring in the same vicinity of a track section) pose greater challenges and risks for train operational safety. This study proposed a method to identify severe track defect combinations that pose greater risks for vehicle derailments. The method includes three main stages. The first stage u...

Curving resistance is an important topic that requires a lot more research. This paper studied the implications of lateral coupler forces for curving resistance. More than 1,800 simulations were conducted using a three-piece bogie wagon model developed using a software package called SIMPACK. The results show that lateral coupler forces have signif...

Global land freight transportation markets are very broad in their applications and a wide range of different types of freight transport are involved in this process. This article considers only rail freight transport, which involves the physical process of transporting general freight, bulk cargo, and merchandise goods through railway or railroad...

This paper uses vehicle system dynamics simulations to investigate curving resistance generated from the wheel-rail interface. More than 600 simulations were conducted using a freight wagon model to investigate the implications of curve radii, vehicle speeds and track superelevation for curving resistance, as well as the changes of curving resistan...

Locomotive-track interaction is a multidimensional task because it goes in many directions depending on the aim of the investigation. One such direction relates to wheel or track damage produced by traction and braking of locomotives under different train operational scenarios. The best option for performing wheel or track damage studies is to use...

Continuous real-time monitoring of unpowered railway vehicles such as general freight and heavy haul wagons is still limited by hardware scalability and power consumption challenges. This paper proposes an innovative sensor node hardware architecture that reduces power consumption and hardware costs by introducing an Analogue Fault Detector based o...

The supporting information and discussion can be references in Chapter 6, Design and simulation of rail vehicles,(2014) Ground Vehicle Engineering Series, CRC Press, ISBN 978-146-657-566-0. Models are provided to allow a basic understanding of Longitudinal Train Dynamics. Modelling takes the enquiry up to the modelling of three vehicle trains with...

Conventional train energy calculation models cannot consider locomotive wheel-rail adhesions, traction adhesion control and locomotive dynamics. This paper developed an advanced model to fill this research gap. The model uses a 3D locomotive model with a fully detailed wheel-rail contact model. The locomotive model was integrated into a Longitudina...

Recent locomotive traction studies have been extensively focused on the development of wheel-rail contact models for application inside multibody software products to compute results which can be further used in the prediction of track damage indexes. These models are quite sufficient, but they have a significant disadvantage of slow computational...

This paper examines whether rapid charging technology could enable implementation in a hybrid freight locomotive design and how it might benefit the existing freight train operation scenarios. In the study, a hybrid locomotive design with rapid charging technology has been proposed and implemented with the application of advanced simulation techniq...

Locomotive wheel wear and rolling contact fatigue simulations that consider both train dynamics and detailed traction control systems have not been reported. This paper developed a parallel co-simulation method to link an in-house longitudinal train dynamics simulator to a commercial software package named GENSYS. An advanced longitudinal train dyn...

A new approach to wagon connection modelling is proposed that allows each stiffness-damper component of each coupler system to be modelled separately instead of being combined into a single inter-wagon connection. Two passenger draft gear types were modelled and evaluated and compared to single inter-wagon connection modelling. The effect of a very...

The design and validation of a locomotive adhesion control system is a very complex multi-disciplinary engineering problem that not only requires consideration of the electrical system but also requires to go very deeply into mechanical and material engineering as well as tribology. The typical approach for advanced locomotive traction studies focu...

Interest has been expressed from industry regarding the investigation of longitudinal interactions of tracks and locomotives. The majority of railway track dynamics models focus on vertical and lateral directions; railway track longitudinal force models are rarely published. This paper developed a three-dimensional railway track model which conside...

Dynamic performance - hunting stability and dynamic curving of a freight container wagon with two conventional three-piece bogies has been compared with the same wagon with improved bogies through the simulations. A typical wagon popularly used in Australia is modelled for simulations using the Gensys software. The improvement on the conventional t...