Huntingoscillation

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Huntingoscillationisaselfoscillation,usuallyunwanted,aboutanequilibrium.[1]
Theexpressioncameintouseinthe19thcenturyanddescribeshowasystem
"hunts"forequilibrium.[1]Theexpressionisusedtodescribephenomenainsuch
diversefieldsaselectronics,aviation,biology,andrailwayengineering.[1]

Contents
1Railwaywheelsets
1.1Kinematicanalysis
1.1.1Assumptionsandnonmathematicaldescription
1.1.2Mathematicalanalysis
1.2Energybalance
1.3Limitationofsimplifiedanalysis
1.4RoadRailvehicles
2Seealso
3Notes
4References

Railwaywheelsets
Aclassicalhuntingoscillationisaswayingmotionofarailwayvehicle(oftencalledtruckhunting)causedbythe
coningactiononwhichthedirectionalstabilityofanadhesionrailwaydepends.Itarisesfromtheinteractionof
adhesionforcesandinertialforces.Atlowspeed,adhesiondominatesbut,asthespeedincreases,theadhesion
forcesandinertialforcesbecomecomparableinmagnitudeandtheoscillationbeginsatacriticalspeed.Above
thisspeed,themotioncanbeviolent,damagingtrackandwheelsandpotentiallycausingderailment.The
problemdoesnotoccuronsystemswithadifferentialbecausetheactiondependsonbothwheelsofawheelset
rotatingatthesameangularrate,althoughdifferentialstendtoberare,andconventionaltrainshavetheirwheels
fixedtotheaxlesinpairsinstead.
Theproblemwasfirstnoticedtowardstheendofthe19thcentury,whentrainspeedsbecamehighenoughto
encounterit.Thisbehaviourlimitedtrainstooperateatspeedsofabout225km/h(140mph)orlessandledtoa
numberofresearchprojectsinthe1960susinghovertrainsandmaglevsystemstoavoiditandreachhigher
speeds.ButafterempiricalstudiesbytheBritishRailResearchDivisioninthe1960s,remedialmeasures,
particularlyinthedesignofsuspensionsystems,havebeenintroducedpermittingspeedsexceeding290km/h
(180mph).Asaresultofthisresearch,mosthighspeedtrainstodaystillusesteelwheels,ratherthanmore
expensivetechnologies.

Kinematicanalysis

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Whileaqualitativedescriptionprovidessomeunderstandingofthephenomenon,deeperunderstanding
inevitablyrequiresamathematicalanalysisofthevehicledynamics.Eventhen,theresultsmaybeonly
approximate.
Akinematicdescriptiondealswiththegeometryofmotion,withoutreferencetotheforcescausingit,sothe
analysisbeginswithadescriptionofthegeometryofawheelsetrunningonastraighttrack.SinceNewton's
SecondLawrelatesforcestoaccelerationsofbodies,theforcesactingmaythenbederivedfromthekinematics
bycalculatingtheaccelerationsofthecomponents.Howeveriftheseforceschangethekinematicdescription(as
theydointhiscase)thentheresultsmayonlybeapproximatelycorrect.

Assumptionsandnonmathematicaldescription
Thiskinematicdescriptionmakesanumberofsimplifyingassumptionssinceitneglectsforces.Forone,it
assumesthattherollingresistanceiszero.Awheelset(notattachedtoatrainortruck),isgivenapushforward
onastraightandleveltrack.Thewheelsetstartscoastingandneverslowsdownsincetherearenoforces(except
downwardforcesonthewheelsettomakeitadheretothetrackandnotslip).Ifinitiallythewheelsetiscentered
ontherailroadtrackthentheeffectivediametersofeachwheelarethesameandthewheelsetrollsdownthe
trackinaperfectlystraightlineforever.Butifthewheelsetisalittleoffcentersothattheeffectivediameters(or
radii)aredifferent,thenthewheelsetstartstomoveinacurveofRadiusR(dependingonthesewheelsetradii,
etc.tobederivedlateron).Theproblemistousekinematicreasoningtofindthetrajectoryofthewheelset,or
moreprecisely,thetrajectoryofthecenterofthewheelsetprojectedverticallyontheroadbedinthecenterofthe
track.Thisisatrajectoryontheplaneofthelevelearth'ssurfaceandplottedonanxygraphicalplotwherexis
thedistancealongtherailroadandyisthe"trackingerror",thedeviationofthecenterofthewheelsetfromthe
straightlineoftherailwayrunningdownthecenterofthetrack(midwaybetweenthetworails).
Toillustratethatawheelsettrajectoryfollowsacurvedpath,onemayplaceanailorscrewonaflattabletopand
giveitapush.Itwillrollinacurvedcirclebecausethenailorscrewislikeawheelsetwithextremelydifferent
diameterwheels.Theheadisanalogoustoalargediameterwheelandthepointedendislikeasmalldiameter
wheel.Whilethenailorscrewwillturnaroundinafullcircle(andmore)therailroadwheelsetbehaves
differentlybecauseassoonatitstartstoturninacurve,theeffectivediameterschangeinsuchawayasto
decreasethecurvatureofthepath.Notethat"radius"and"curvature"refertothecurvatureofthetrajectoryof
thewheelsetandnotthecurvatureoftherailwaysincethisisperfectlystraighttrack.Asthewheelsetrollson,
thecurvaturedecreasesuntilthewheelsreachthepointwheretheireffectivediametersareequalandthepathis
nolongercurving.Butthetrajectoryhasaslopeatthispoint(itisastraightlinewhichcrossesdiagonallyover
thecenterlineofthetrack)sothatitovershootsthecenterlineofthetrackandtheeffectivediametersreverse(the
formerlysmallerdiameterwheelbecomesthelargerdiameterandconversely).Thisresultsinthewheelset
movinginacurveintheoppositedirection.Againitovershootsthecenterlineandthisphenomenacontinue
indefinitelywiththewheelsetoscillatingfromsidetoside.Notethatthewheelflangenevermakescontactwith
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therail.Inthismodel,therailsareassumedtoalwayscontactthewheeltreadalongthesamelineontherailhead
whichassumesthattherailsareknifeedgeandonlymakecontactwiththewheeltreadalongaline(ofzero
width).
Mathematicalanalysis
Thetrainstaysonthetrackbyvirtueoftheconicalshapeofthewheeltreads.Ifawheelsetisdisplacedtoone
sidebyanamount"y"(thetrackingerror),theradiusofthetreadincontactwiththerailononesideisreduced,
whileontheothersideitisincreased.Theangularvelocityisthesameforbothwheels(theyarecoupledviaa
rigidaxle),sothelargerdiametertreadspeedsup,whilethesmallerslowsdown.Thewheelsetsteersarounda
centreofcurvaturedefinedbytheintersectionofthegeneratorofaconepassingthroughthepointsofcontact
withthewheelsontherailsandtheaxisofthewheelset.Applyingsimilartriangles,wehavefortheturnradius:

wheredisthetrackgauge,rthewheelradiuswhenrunningstraightandkisthetreadtaper(whichistheslopeof
treadinthehorizontaldirectionperpendiculartothetrack).
Thepathofthewheelsetrelativetothestraighttrackisdefinedbyafunctiony(x)wherexistheprogressalong
thetrack.Thisissometimescalledthetrackingerror.[2]Providedthedirectionofmotionremainsmoreorless
paralleltotherails,thecurvatureofthepathmayberelatedtothesecondderivativeofywithrespecttodistance
alongthetrackasapproximately[3]

Itfollowsthatthetrajectoryalongthetrackisgovernedbytheequation:[4]

Thisissimpleharmonicmotionhavingwavelength:
knownasKlingel'sformula(derivedin1883)[5]
Thiskinematicanalysisimpliesthattrainsswayfromsidetosideallthetime.Infact,thisoscillationisdamped
outbelowacriticalspeedandtherideiscorrespondinglymorecomfortable.Thekinematicresultignoresthe
forcescausingthemotion.Thesemaybeanalyzedusingtheconceptofcreep(nonlinear)butaresomewhat
difficulttoquantifysimply,astheyarisefromtheelasticdistortionofthewheelandrailattheregionsofcontact.
Thesearethesubjectoffrictionalcontactmechanicsanearlypresentationthatincludestheseeffectsinhunting
motionanalysiswaspresentedbyCarter.[6]SeeKnothe[7]forahistoricaloverview.
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Ifthemotionissubstantiallyparallelwiththerails,theangulardisplacementofthewheelset

isgivenby:

Hence:

Theangulardeflectionalsofollowsasimpleharmonicmotion,whichlagsbehindthesidetosidemotionbya
quarterofacycle.Inmanysystemswhicharecharacterisedbyharmonicmotioninvolvingtwodifferentstates
(inthiscasetheaxleyawdeflectionandthelateraldisplacement),thequartercyclelagbetweenthetwomotions
endowsthesystemwiththeabilitytoextractenergyfromtheforwardmotion.Thiseffectisobservedin"flutter"
ofaircraftwingsand"shimmy"ofroadvehicles,aswellashuntingofrailwayvehicles.Thekinematicsolution
derivedabovedescribesthemotionatthecriticalspeed.
Inpractice,belowthecriticalspeed,thelagbetweenthetwomotionsislessthanaquartercyclesothatthe
motionisdampedoutbut,abovethecriticalspeed,thelagisgreaterthanaquartercyclesothatthemotionis
amplified.
Inordertoestimatetheinertialforces,itisnecessarytoexpressthedistancederivativesastimederivatives.This
isdoneusingthespeedofthevehicleU,whichisassumedconstant:

Theangularaccelerationoftheaxleinyawis:

Theinertialmoment(ignoringgyroscopiceffects)is:

whereFistheforceactingalongtherailsandCisthemomentofinertiaofthewheelset.

themaximumfrictionalforcebetweenthewheelandrailisgivenby:

whereWistheaxleloadand isthecoefficientoffriction.Grossslippingwilloccuratacombinationofspeed
andaxledeflectiongivenby:
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thisexpressionyieldsasignificantoverestimateofthecriticalspeed,butitdoesillustratethephysicalreason
whyhuntingoccurs,i.e.theinertialforcesbecomecomparablewiththeadhesionforcesaboveacertainspeed.
Limitingfrictionisapoorrepresentationoftheadhesionforceinthiscase.
Theactualadhesionforcesarisefromthedistortionofthetreadandrailintheregionofcontact.Thereisno
grossslippage,justelasticdistortionandsomelocalslipping(creepslippage).Duringnormaloperationthese
forcesarewellwithinthelimitingfrictionconstraint.Acompleteanalysistakestheseforcesintoaccount,using
rollingcontactmechanicstheories.
However,thekinematicanalysisassumedthattherewasnoslippageatallatthewheelrailcontact.Nowit'sclear
thatthereissomecreepslippagewhichmakesthecalculatedsinusoidaltrajectoryofthewheelset(perKlingle's
formula)notexactlycorrect.

Energybalance
Inordertogetanestimateofthecriticalspeed,weusethefactthattheconditionforwhichthiskinematic
solutionisvalidcorrespondstothecasewherethereisnonetenergyexchangewiththesurroundings,soby
consideringthekineticandpotentialenergyofthesystem,weshouldbeabletoderivethecriticalspeed.
Let:

Usingtheoperator:

theangularaccelerationequationmaybeexpressedintermsoftheangularvelocityinyaw:

integrating:

sothekineticenergyduetorotationis:

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Whentheaxleyaws,thepointsofcontactmoveoutwardsonthetreadssothattheheightoftheaxleislowered.
Thedistancebetweenthesupportpointsincreasesto:

(tosecondorderofsmallquantities).thedisplacementofthesupportpointoutfromthecentresofthetreadsis:

theaxleloadfallsby

Theworkdonebyloweringtheaxleloadistherefore:

Thisisenergylostfromthesystem,soinorderforthemotiontocontinue,anequalamountofenergymustbe
extractedfromtheforwardmotionofthewheelset.
Theouterwheelvelocityisgivenby:

Thekineticenergyis:

fortheinnerwheelitis

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wheremisthemassofbothwheels.
Theincreaseinkineticenergyis:

Themotionwillcontinueatconstantamplitudeaslongastheenergyextractedfromtheforwardmotion,and
manifestingitselfasincreasedkineticenergyofthewheelsetatzeroyaw,isequaltothepotentialenergylostby
theloweringoftheaxleloadatmaximumyaw.
Now,fromthekinematics:

but

Thetranslationalkineticenergyis

Thetotalkineticenergyis:

Thecriticalspeedisfoundfromtheenergybalance:

Hencethecriticalspeedisgivenby

Thisisindependentofthewheeltaper,butdependsontheratiooftheaxleloadtowheelsetmass.Ifthetreads
weretrulyconicalinshape,thecriticalspeedwouldbeindependentofthetaper.Inpractice,wearonthewheel
causesthetapertovaryacrossthetreadwidth,sothatthevalueoftaperusedtodeterminethepotentialenergyis
differentfromthatusedtocalculatethekineticenergy.Denotingtheformerasa,thecriticalspeedbecomes:

whereaisnowashapefactordeterminedbythewheelwear.Thisresultisderivedin[8]fromananalysisofthe
systemdynamicsusingstandardcontrolengineeringmethods.

Limitationofsimplifiedanalysis
Themotionofawheelsetismuchmorecomplicatedthanthisanalysiswouldindicate.Thereareadditional
restrainingforcesappliedbythevehiclesuspension[9]and,athighspeed,thewheelsetwillgenerateadditional
gyroscopictorques,whichwillmodifytheestimateofthecriticalspeed.Arealrailwayvehiclehasmanymore
degreesoffreedomand,consequently,mayhavemorethanonecriticalspeeditisbynomeanscertainthatthe
lowestisdictatedbythewheelsetmotion.
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However,theanalysisisinstructivebecauseitshowswhyhuntingoccurs.Asthespeedincreases,theinertial
forcesbecomecomparablewiththeadhesionforces.Thatiswhythecriticalspeeddependsontheratioofthe
axleload(whichdeterminestheadhesionforce)tothewheelsetmass(whichdeterminestheinertialforces).
Alternatively,belowacertainspeed,theenergywhichisextractedfromtheforwardmotionisinsufficientto
replacetheenergylostbyloweringtheaxlesandthemotiondampsoutabovethisspeed,theenergyextractedis
greaterthanthelossinpotentialenergyandtheamplitudebuildsup.
Thepotentialenergyatmaximumaxleyawmaybeincreasedbyincludinganelasticconstraintontheyaw
motionoftheaxle,sothatthereisacontributionarisingfromspringtension.Arrangingwheelsinbogiesto
increasetheconstraintontheyawmotionofwheelsetsandapplyingelasticconstraintstothebogiealsoraises
thecriticalspeed.Introducingelasticforcesintotheequationpermitssuspensiondesignswhicharelimitedonly
bytheonsetofgrossslippage,ratherthanclassicalhunting.Thepenaltytobepaidforthevirtualeliminationof
huntingisastraighttrack,withanattendantrightofwayproblemandincompatibilitywithlegacyinfrastructure.
Huntingisadynamicproblemwhichcanbesolved,inprincipleatleast,byactivefeedbackcontrol,whichmay
beadaptedtothequalityoftrack.However,theintroductionofactivecontrolraisesreliabilityandsafetyissues.
Shortlyaftertheonsetofhunting,grossslippageoccursandthewheelflangesimpactontherails,potentially
causingdamagetoboth.

RoadRailvehicles
ManyRoadrailvehiclesfeatureindependentaxlesandsuspension
systemsoneachrailwheel.Whenthisiscombinedwiththepresenceroad
wheelsontherailisbecomesdifficulttousetheformulaeabove.
Historically,RoadrailvehicleshavetheirfrontwheelssetslightlyToein
whichhasbeenfoundtominimisehuntingwhilstthevehicleisbeing
drivenonrail.

Seealso
Frictionalcontactmechanics

Independentrailwheelaxlesare
commononroadrailvehicles

Railadhesion
Railprofile
Speedwobble
Vehicledynamics
Wheelset
Forgeneralmethodsdealingwiththisclassofproblem,see
Controlengineering

Notes
1. ^abcOxfordEnglishDictionary(2nded.).OxfordUniversityPress.1989."f.Theactionofamachine,instrument,
system,etc.,thatishunting(seehuntv.7b)anundesirableoscillationaboutanequilibriumspeed,position,orstate."
2. ^"Trackingerror"willbezeroifthepathofthewheelsrunsabsolutelystraightalongthetrackandthewheelpairis
centeredonthetrack.
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3. ^SeeCurvature#Curvatureofagraphformathematicaldetails.Theapproximateequalitybecomesequalityonlywhen
thetrackingerror,y,haszeroslopewithrespecttox.Sincethetrackingerrorwillturnouttobeasinewave,thepoints
ofzeroslopeareatthepointsofmaximumtrackingerrory.Buttheequalityisapproximatelycorrectprovidedthe
slopeofyislow.
4. ^Notethatisnegativewhenyispositiveandconversely.TheotherequationforR,

isn'ttruewheny

goesnegative,sincetheradiusRisnotallowedtobenegative(permathematicaldefinition).ButafterradiusRis
eliminatedbycombiningthetwoequations,theresultingequationbecomescorrectbycheckingthetwocases:y
negativeandypositive.
5. ^Iwnicki,p.7formula2.1
6. ^Carter,F.W.(July25,1928)."OntheStabilityofRunningofLocomotives".ProceedingsoftheRoyalSociety.A
121:585610.Bibcode:1928RSPSA.121..585C(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1928RSPSA.121..585C).
doi:10.1098/rspa.1928.0220(https://dx.doi.org/10.1098%2Frspa.1928.0220).
7. ^Knothe,K.(2008)."Historyofwheel/railcontactmechanics:fromRedtenbachertoKalker".VehicleSystem
Dynamics46(12):926.doi:10.1080/00423110701586469(https://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F00423110701586469).
8. ^Wickens,A.H.(196566)."TheDynamicsofRailwayVehiclesonStraightTrack:FundamentalConsiderationsof
LateralStability".Proc.Inst.Mech.Eng.:pp.29.
9. ^Wickens,A.H.GilchristA.O.andA.E.W.Hobbs(196970)."SuspensionDesignforHighPerformanceTwoAxle
FreightVehicles".Proc.Inst.Mech.Eng.:pp.22.

References
Iwnicki,Simon(2006).Handbookofrailwayvehicledynamics.CRCPress.
Shabana,AhmedA.,et.al(2008).Railroadvehicledynamics:acoputatationalapproach.CRCPress.
Wikins,AH(Jan1,2003).Fundamentalsofrailvehicledynamics:guidanceandlateralstability.Swets&Zeitlinger.

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