An analysis of the train–turnout interaction

What is it about?

A distinctive feature of the application proposed in this work is the occurrence of simultaneous contact patches on a single wheel, i.e., the multi-point contact case. A difficulty in the study of this phenomenon is that the contact areas depend on the deformation of the bodies, whereas these deformations are functions of the contact loading and the contact area. This is contrary to what is usually the case in finite element analysis, where the load and displacement are prescribed at different (fixed) parts of the boundary.

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Why is it important?

In the approach proposed, the bodies deformations and the contact areas can be determined from the contact loading. Further, the number and position of the contact points can be calculated either on-line or off-line. The scheme proposed also allows the computation of the loading and stress state starting from the local deformations.