Design of railway wheel profile taking into account rolling contact fatigue and wear

• Published in: Wear Vol. 265; no. 9; pp. 1273 - 1282
• Main Authors: Shevtsov, I.Y., Markine, V.L., Esveld, C.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 30.10.2008; Amsterdam Elsevier Science; New York, NY
• Subjects: Applied sciences; B-spline; Exact sciences and technology; Friction, wear, lubrication; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Machine components; Mechanical contact (friction...); Mechanical engineering. Machine design; Physics; Shape optimisation; Solid mechanics; Structural and continuum mechanics; Wheel profile design; Wheel/rail contact; Shape optimisation; Wheel profile design; B-spline; Wheel/rail contact; Roll contact fatigue; Wheel; Fretting fatigue; Rail vehicle; Rolling contact; Mechanical contact; Stability criterion; Rolling wear; Experimental study; Axle; Wheel profile design;Shape optimisation;Wheel/rail contact;B-spline; Rail; Contact stress; Safety; Tribology
• ISSN: 0043-1648; 1873-2577
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2008.03.018

The rolling contact fatigue (RCF) problems such as head checks (HC) in moderate and large radius curves have high priority of the Dutch railways (NS). The paper proposes a procedure for design of a wheel profile which improves wheel/rail interaction by reducing wear while taking into account rolling contact fatigue. The procedure uses an optimality criterion based on a rolling radii difference (RRD) function. The criterion accounts for stability of a wheelset, minimum wear and contact stresses of wheels and rails as well as safety requirements. Using the proposed procedure a new wheel profile has been obtained and numerically tested using ADAMS/Rail computer package. The results of the optimisation are presented and discussed.