Participants Contributions List of Abstracts

The UIC Standard Suspension consists of a leaf spring (5) see the figure which rests on the axle box (6), which can move horizontally and vertically between the guidances (4). In the horizontal the guidance provides an end stop for the translations and the yaw of the wheelset (7). In the vertical direction the motion of the wheelset is restricted by the leaf spring with its nonlinear dry friction characteristic and the weight of the car body (1). The car body is suspended from the leaf spring by links (3). Damping is provided by the dry friction forces in the leaf spring and in the elements of the link suspension. See the figure. We investigate the dynamics of the wagon on a straight track independence on the speed, which is the bifurcation parameter in the dynamical problem. The stick-slip interacting with the nonlinear wheel-rail contact forces gives rise to an interesting sequence of bifurcations and chaos that may be one or more attractors or a transient.