Investigation of Geometrical Conditions of Wheel Rail Interaction using Finite Element Method

The geometrical shape of wheel and rail profiles are some of the most important parameters affecting wheel-rail interaction in the area of elastic contact. Contact conditions have direct effects on the wear of rail and wheel. There are main restrictions in traditional methods, like Hertz Theory, calculating two-body contact parameters in specific case of rail and wheel, so this paper studies this case by an FE-simulation model made by ANSYS. In order to verify the model, the results are compared to those of two other models which are an ABAQUS model and the Iwnicki’s 2003 model. In addition to wheel-rail contact modeling of new rail, the worn rail is modeled. Also, by using a lateral force, the contact patch in a curve is modeled in different wheel-rail contact points.Significant differences between the FE and the Hertz Theory can be observed. The results show preference of non-conical UIC wheel profile (like ORE-S1002