A whole system model framework to predict damage in turnouts
Journal article, 2023

This paper presents a whole system model framework that enables a holistic prediction of accumulated track damage in railway turnouts. A modular approach allows for insight into the interaction of different damage mechanisms such as rail profile change due to the plastic deformation and wear as well as track settlement. The methodology focuses on the two most critical areas of the turnout in terms of damage: switch and crossing panels. It is shown that at the beginning of the service life of the turnout the running surface of the rails in these areas change significantly due to plastic deformation, which in turn increases the dynamic impact forces from passing vehicles. These impact forces cause vertical track settlement that is most pronounced in the crossing area. Track settlement introduces additional dynamics into the system leading to self-reinforcing behaviour. It is shown that the proposed methodology can predict accumulated track damage accounting for the coupling between different damage modes such as track settlement, rail profiles plastic deformation and wear. It can therefore be used for holistic assessment of turnouts e.g. in design optimisation studies.

rail wear

multi-body dynamics (MBD)

vehicle-track interaction (VTI)

plastic deformation

rail surface damage

switches and crossings

Turnout

track damage

track settlement

whole system modelling

Author

K. Six

Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH

K. Sazgetdinov

Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH

N. Kumar

Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH

G. Muller

Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH

D. Velic

Materials Center Leoben Forschung GmbH

W. Daves

Materials Center Leoben Forschung GmbH

Rostyslav Skrypnyk

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Dynamics

Björn Pålsson

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Dynamics

Vehicle System Dynamics

0042-3114 (ISSN) 1744-5159 (eISSN)

Vol. 61 3 871-891

Subject Categories

Tribology

Infrastructure Engineering

Vehicle Engineering

DOI

10.1080/00423114.2021.1988116

More information

Latest update

3/21/2023