Reduced model identification and parameter estimation for traction drive-trains

Traction drive-trains of modern locomotives consist of a flexible multi-inertia structure that experiences significant wheelset wear due to wheel-rail contact and ageing of rubber elastic joints during its operational life. For control design, an accurate and suitable reduced model is required. Therefore, a reduced model identification is proposed, taking branched traction drive-trains and parameter adaption in terms of wheelset wear and rubber ageing into consideration. The identification effort is lowered by applying previous knowledge of the flexible structure in order to comply with the limitations imposed by the traction application. For predictive maintenance, the effects of ageing and wheel wear are decoupled, enabling precise estimation of the variable mechanical parameters, namely, the rubber joint stiffness and the wheel disc radius, on the basis of an identified modal three-inertia model. Finally, the proposed scheme is tested with data from a European high-performance locomotive.