Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Hysteresis Heating Of Railroad Bearing Thermoplastic Elastomer Suspension Element, Oscar O. Rodriguez, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh, Robert E. Jones

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE’s) are increasingly being used in rail service in load damping applications. They are superior to traditional elastomers primarily in their ease of fabrication. Like traditional elastomers they offer benefits including reduction in noise emissions and improved wear resistance in metal components that are in contact with such parts in the railcar suspension system. However, viscoelastic materials, such as the railroad bearing thermoplastic elastomer suspension element (or elastomeric pad), are known to develop self-heating (hysteresis) under cyclic loading, which can lead to undesirable consequences. Quantifying the hysteresis heating of the pad during operation is therefore essential to predict …