THE STUDY OF THE TECHNICAL CONDITION OF GONDOLA CARS

The article presents the results of the analysis of the technical condition of gondola cars owned by the transport operator BGS rail. The composition of the model range of the car fleet was analysed. It is shown that 14 % of gondola cars produced by Uralvagonzavod have an average service life of over thirty years and have exhausted their service life. Gondola cars of models 12-757 and 12-753 of Kryukov Carriage Works have also exhausted their service life. A positive factor is the presence of innovative cars model 12-7023 produced by KVSZ and 12-4106 model produced by PJSC Dneprovagonmash in the car fleet. Their average age is 6.5 years.An analysis of the main causes of failures that caused the car to uncouple from the train along the route was carried out. In the first place are damage to body elements. This is followed by failures of automatic brakes and wheel sets.Among the damage to gondola car bodies, the first place is taken by malfunctions of the locks on the unloading hatch covers, followed by cracks and breaks in the upper and vertical sheets of the frame cross beams. Broken weld seams of braces and broken linings also pose a serious danger.Failures of auto brakes are caused by loosening of air duct pipes, brake equipment and welded shoes. The main causes of damage to wheel pairs are unacceptable wear of the flange. Among axle box assemblies, the vast majority of failures are caused by excessive heating of the bearings.Failures of automatic coupling equipment are most often caused by fractures of the centering beam and breaks (cracks) of the pendulum suspension. Cracks and other malfunctions of the automatic coupling body are also observed.The bogies mostly have broken springs and mismatched sliding clearances. Also, a quarter of the uncoupled bogies have expired service life of their elements. The average recovery time for gondola cars was analyzed. Due to malfunctions of axlebox units, cars are under repair for more than 15 days, due to failures of wheel pairs - 11.55 days. The least time is spent on auto brakes – 4.2 days.An analysis of the damage to the bodies of various gondola cars models showed that gondola cars of models 12-9745 and 12-9790 are in the worst technical condition. The least susceptible to damage are the «innovative» gondola cars of models 12-7023 and 12-4106.