• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.139-145
• /
• 2017

It is necessary to analyze the exact contact position and contact stress of the wheel-rail in order to predict damage to the wheel and rail. This study presents a wheel-rail contact analysis model that considers the deformation of the axle. When a wheel-rail contact analysis is performed using a full three-dimensional model of the wheelset and rail, the analytical model becomes very inefficient due to the increase in analysis time and cost. Therefore, modeling the element-coupling model of the wheel and rail as a three-dimensional element and the axle as a one-dimensional element is proposed. The wheel-rail contact characteristics in the proposed analysis model for straight and curved lines were analyzed and compared with the conventional three-dimensional analysis model. Considering the accuracy of the analysis results and time, the result shows that the proposed analytical model has almost the same accuracy as a full three-dimensional model, but the computational effort is significantly reduced.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.29 no.2 s.233
• /
• pp.341-349
• /
• 2005

Damage often occurs on the surface of railway wheel by wheel-rail contact fatigue. It should be removed before reaching wheel failure, because wheel failure can cause derailment with loss of life and property. The increase or decrease of the contact fatigue life by the metal removal of the contact surface were shown by many researchers, but it has not explained precisely why fatigue life increases or decreases. In this study, the effect of metal removal depth on the contact fatigue life for railway wheel has been evaluated by applying finite element analysis. It has been revealed that the residual stress and the plastic flow are the main factors determining the fatigue life. The railway wheel has the initial residual stress formed during the manufacturing process, and the residual stress is changed by thermal stress induced by braking. It has been found that the initial residual stress determines the amount of metal removal depth. Also, the effects of the initial residual stress and metal removal on the contact fatigue lift has been estimated, and an equation is proposed to decide the optimal metal removal depth for maximizing the contact fatigue life.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.14-18
• /
• 2014

Wheel/rail contact is a significant problem in railway dynamics. In this paper, the wheel/rail contact is examined analytically and numerically as a contact problem between two cylinders where torque and friction have effect. Furthermore, the contact of a real wheel and rail is investigated numerically where the normal and shear force act. This study demonstrates that the wheel/rail contact is a process that generates traction force through creep where rolling and sliding occurs simultaneously depending on the shape of the wheel and rail, and the friction coefficient between them.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.93-101
• /
• 1997

The numerical results on the stress distributions of rail-wheel contact problems are presented for three models in a high-speed rail system. These models which have straight and tapered (1:40 and 1:20) contact geometries between the wheelset and rail are analyzed using the finite element approach. From the simulation results we found that the tapered geometry (1:20) of railwheel contact base line showed very stable contact stress distributions for a whole contact position between the wheel and rail in a curved rail section. The FEM computed results may present an optimized slope geometry of rail-wheel contact in a high-speed railway system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.43-52
• /
• 2010

In this study, the shapes of the wheel and rail are represented by using 3-dimensional surface functions with surface parameters and a 3-dimensional wheel-rail contact analysis is presented. A whole numerical solution of wheel-rail contact at tread and flange including 2-point contacts can be achieved with the proposed numerical algorithm. Kinematic characteristics such as variances of vertical displacement and roll angle, and variance of wheel radius difference for arbitrary yaw and lateral displacement of wheelset, are determined for the KTX wheel-rail pair as an example. The condition of yaw and lateral displacement occurring 2-point contacts to analyze derailment are compared between standard and worn wheels. Differences of contact characteristics between curved and straight rails are also analyzed.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
• /
• 2003.05a
• /
• pp.663-667
• /
• 2003

Mechanical force acted on the rail wheel causes excessive wear and increases the maintenance cost. The present paper proposes newly designed wheel profiles in order to reduce the contact stress. Numerical analysis on the stress distribution of wheel-rail contact stress is carried out using ABAQUS, a commercial finite element code. The result of KNR1/40 conical wheel is compared to those of the proposed wheels, all of which are arc wheel profile type.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.28 no.9
• /
• pp.1391-1398
• /
• 2004

Railway wheels and axles belong to the most critical components in railway vehicles. The service conditions of railway vehicles became more severe in recent years due to the increase of speed. Therefore, a more precise evaluation of wheelset life and safety has been requested. Wheel/rail contact fatigue and thermal cracks due to braking heat are two main mechanisms of the railway wheel failure. In this paper, an evaluation procedure for the contact fatigue life of railway wheel is proposed. One of the main sources of the contact zone failure is the residual stress. The residual stress on wheel is formed during the manufacturing process which includes a heat treatment, and then is changed by contact stress developed by wheel/rail contact and thermal stress induced by braking. Also, the cyclic stress history for fatigue analysis is determined by applying finite elements analysis for the moving contact load. The objective of this paper is to estimate fatigue life by considering residual stress due to heat treatment, braking and repeated contact load, respectively.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.19-26
• /
• 2012

Rolling contact fatigue of an urban railway wheel was analysed during its rolling. A FEM analysis was performed using a 3D modelling of rail and wheel, considering the slope of the rail and nonlinear isotropic and kinematic hardening behavior of the rail and the wheel. The maximum von-Mises stress and contact pressure between the rail and wheel were 656.9 MPa and 1111.4 MPa, respectively, under axial load of 85 kN with friction coefficient of 0. The fatigue initiation life prediction relationships by strain-lifetime (${\varepsilon}$-N) and Smith-Watson-Topper method were drawn for the wheel steel as follows: $N_i=7.35{\times}10^6{\times}SWT^{-3.56}$ and $N_i=5.41{\times}10^{-9}{\times}(\frac{{\Delta}{\varepsilon}}{2})^{-5.77}$. The fatigue lifetimes of the wheel due to rolling contact were determined to be infinite by ${\varepsilon}$-N and SWT methods.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
• /
• 2004.10a
• /
• pp.606-610
• /
• 2004

In this paper, we would like to explain about the structure analysis of wheel set as variation of contact position between wheel and rail. Measurement of interacted force between wheel and rail is necessary for running safety evaluation as important factor of derailment mechanism. It's necessary to running safety evaluation of rolling stock. Wheel unload and lateral force change as variation of contact position between wheel and rail. Interacted force between wheel and rail got as each contact position through computer simulation. This is necessary process as first research for evaluation of derailment phenomenon and running safety.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.253-263
• /
• 2012

With the local Hertz deformation on the contact point, the dynamic contact between a high-speed wheel and an elastic beam having a gap is numerically analyzed by solving the whole equations of motion of the wheel and the beam subjected to the contact condition. For the stability of the time integration the velocity and acceleration constraints as well as the displacement constraint are imposed on the contact point. Especially the acceleration contact condition on the gap is formulated, and it is demonstrated that the contact force variation computed by the velocity contact constraint or by the acceleration contact constraint agrees well with that computed by the displacement contact constraint. The numerical examples show that, when the wheel passes on the gap, the solution is governed by the stiffness of the local Hertzian deformation.