Influence of construction schemes and parameters of three-piece freight bogies on wagon stability, ride and curving qualities

In many countries, including Russia, the three-piece bogies are essential for freight transportation. Their dynamic behavior includes many nonlinear effects and is strongly dependent on the realized parameters that are subject to change due to wear. Since the beginning of the 20th century, when the three-piece bogie was invented, there has been significant progress in its design. Actually, now the term three-piece bogie is applied to a variety of construction schemes that look similar, but have principal differences. This article investigates various construction schemes of the three-piece bogies from the point of view of stability, ride, and curving quality, using numerical simulation results as well as the results of natural experiments for the available bogies.