Bogie Wear Pad - A Comparative Study

Bogie-type suspensions for trucks are comprised of two axles and a central spring pack on each side of the truck chassis. Bogie suspensions have a good load distribution between the axles and are used for severe applications in trucks, in off-road conditions thereby subjecting them to extreme stain and load. In today’s competitive market scenario, it of utmost importance to minimize down time in commercial vehicles as it directly corresponds to loss in business which leads to customer dissatisfaction. It is therefore essential to optimize and select the right material for each component in the bogie suspension system. This paper deals with the material selection and testing of one such component - Bogie Wear Pad. The bogie wear pad undergoes sliding friction throughout its lifetime during loading and unloading of bogie suspension. Three different materials are selected and their wear is measured under the same conditions of loading. The horizontal and vertical loads acting on the wear pad is derived from the actual vehicle condition. A total of nine samples (three of each type) are tested. Weight of the wear pad is taken before and after the test to quantitatively compare the percentage reduction in weight between them which is used an indicator of performance of the wear pad. The wear pad is also 3-D modeled before and after to compare the pattern of loading on the wear pad.