A study of the effect of vibration on railroad bearing temperature

An on-track collaborative field test and laboratory experiments were conducted in order to determine the relationship between abrupt rises in surface temperature of a railroad bearing and vibration signatures captured during the experiments. The collaborative field test was conducted in order to investigate the root cause for this abrupt temperature change known as bearing temperature trending. The research presented in this thesis will show that temperature trending is correlated to an increase in the magnitude of vibration within the bearing and the fundamental frequencies that are generated by the internal components of a rotating bearing assembly. Distinct vibration mechanisms are identified during normal operation and trending events and are catalogued so algorithms can be developed in the future that will allow for the early removal of degraded railroad bearings approaching imminent failure in service