Detail how specific wheel profile design parameters, such as conicity and flange angle, are optimized to minimize hunting oscillation and ensure stable negotiation of curves in a bogie.

Wheel profile design parameters are carefully optimized to manage the complex dynamic behavior of a bogie, specifically to minimize hunting oscillation and ensure stable negotiation of curves. This optimization balances conflicting requirements using parameters like conicity and flange angle. Conicity, also known as taper, refers to the varying diameter across the wheel tread. The wheel tread is the part of the wheel that rolls on the rail. Typically, the wheel's diameter is larger closer to the flange and smaller towards the center of the wheelset. When a wheelset shifts laterally on the track, for instance when entering a curve, one wheel moves to a larger diameter section of its tread while the opposite wheel moves to a smaller diameter section. This difference in effective rolling radii means the wheel on the outer rail of the curve will travel further per revolution than the wheel on the inner rail. This creates a yaw moment, which is a rotational force around the vertical axis, that guides the wheelset into the curve. This is the self-steering effect, crucial for minimizing flange contact, reducing wear on wheels and rails, and ensuring smooth curve negotiation. However, a higher conicity provides a stronger restoring force that pulls the wheelset back to the track center if it deviates. If this restoring force is too strong relative to the bogie's damping, the wheelset can overshoot the center, leading to a repetitive, oscillating lateral motion known as hunting oscillation. Hunting is an ....