Influence of model parameters on the predicted rail profile wear distribution in a curve

Other - Internal Report, 2023

A sensitivity study is performed to determine the effect of model parameters on the predicted wear distribution on rail profiles. The numerical framework uses multibody simulations to evaluate dynamic vehicle-track interaction for different traffic scenarios, and FASTSIM and Archard's wear law to evaluate rail profile wear. Vehicle and track parameters as well as different approaches to contact modeling are considered. A previous study has shown good agreement between predictions and measurements in overall wear, but deviations in wear distribution. The objective of this study is to obtain a better agreement for the profile wear distribution under operational traffic conditions compared to rail profile measurements. The study shows that the inclusion of freight vehicles, different wheel profile samples, and the consideration of a different contact model are some of the most important parameters.