Numerical Modeling of Load and Stress on the Contact Surface of a Turnout and a Railway Vehicle

Abstract

In operating conditions, railroads are subject to abrasive and fatigue wear. Their durability period depends on the properties of the materials from which rail sections are made, the characteristics and value of the load, and the distribution of contact stresses and strain in the places at which wheels contact track and turnout components. Forecasting of the real load and the resultant contact stress and strain makes it possible to rationally design railway turnouts and correctly select the material to be used for their components. For these reasons, characteristics of load and, subsequently, distributions of contact stresses and deformations in places of wheel/turnout-component contact were determined in numerical calculations using