Principles
The aforementioned reciprocating balance on the wheels attempts to prevent the worst of the reciprocating forces at play on a locomotive, though as a compromise, this extra mass on the wheel causes it to be out of balance vertically, therefore creating hammer blow. Therefore, if reciprocating balancing is increased, it may appear that a locomotive is running smoothly, but at a high cost in hammer blow, especially at high speeds.
Locomotives are balanced to their individual cases, especially if several of the same design are constructed (a class). The normal operating speed is ascertained, resulting in each class member being balanced accordingly. Usually the reciprocating weight is balanced between 45 to 50% of total balance weight. High speed locomotives were the key recipients of such treatment due to the increased level of forces involved, and the exponential factor of stress on the track at these higher speeds.
Read more about this topic: Hammer Blow
Famous quotes containing the word principles:
“The honor my country shall never be stained by an apology from me for the statement of truth and the performance of duty; nor can I give any explanation of my official acts except such as is due to integrity and justice and consistent with the principles on which our institutions have been framed.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.”
—George Berkeley (1685–1753)
“The principles of the good society call for a concern with an order of being—which cannot be proved existentially to the sense organs—where it matters supremely that the human person is inviolable, that reason shall regulate the will, that truth shall prevail over error.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)