Abstract: Through research, it is found that the intercity EMU running on a certain line passes through the curve at non-equilibrium speed and abnormal wheel wear exists. Based on the radius of curve line and vehicle running speed, the vehicle dynamic models and the wear prediction model are built to study the effect of running speed on wheel wear. The results show that the curve radius is mainly between 500 m to 3 500 m; and the intercity EMU mostly negotiates the curves at a lower speed than the equilibrium speed; In the range of positive 10% and negative 70% of the equilibrium speed, the overall wear and flange wear of the outer guiding wheel are affected by the speed on the curve of 500 m radius slightly. On the curve of 1 500 m radius and above, when the vehicle runs at the speed of below the equilibrium speed, the wear power index and the wear depth index would increase with the decrease of speed, especially the flange wear index increases obviously. In the actual operation process, the speed of vehicle passing curve should be chosen under consideration of the running safety and wear performance. In summary, the curve radius of the intercity EMU line are relatively small and the vehicle negotiate the curve at a lower speed than the equilibrium speed, which results in serious wheel wear, especially the serious wheel flange wear.

Key words: intercity EMU, non-equilibrium speed, flange wear, small radius curve, wear prediction