Nadal’s Limit (L/V) to Wheel Climb and Two Derailment Modes

Abstract

This paper did a theoretical study on the Nadal’s L/V ratio. The analysis is based on a mechanical model of an object sliding on an incline (or slope), which is widely used in college physics. The key is that the direction of frictional forces is always opposite to the direction of the motion of the sliding object. Therefore, there are two directions (upward or downward) for the frictional forces between the object and incline depending on the states of motion of the object. Thus, there must be two L/V ratios for the object sliding on the incline for the same reason. The theoretical demonstration shows that Nadal’s L/V is the same with the L/V which governs the downward motion of the object on the incline, because the direction of frictional force between the object and the incline is set to be upwards in the derivation of the Nadal’s L/V. Thus, Nadal’s L/V is for the object going down the incline. A detail examination was performed on the Nadal’s L/V for some typical configurations, such as the critical angle; the zero and 90 degrees angles, further proving that the Nadal’s L/V is not for an object going up on the incline, thus cannot be used as the criterion for wheel climb. A new L/V ratio was created by setting the direction of frictional force downwards to simulate the object going up on the incline, and was named as Huang’s L/V. Wheel flange/rail contact produces frictional forces between them to consume the pulling power, like a braking to slowdown wheel rotation. Thus, wheel climb is only 1/3 of the whole story of wheel flange/rail contact. The other two are 1). A retarder derailment mode is created by the braking and 2). A braking, large enough, will cause a wheel locked. Therefore, there are two derailment modes with wheel/flange rail contact, wheel climb modes and retarder mode. A method to determine which mode was initiated was demonstrated in the paper. Angle of Attack (AoA) introduces a complicated scenario for wheel climb calculations. It is almost impossible to determine a correct L/V ratio under AoA.