A fast non-elliptic contact model for application to rail vehicle dynamics simulation

An approximate rolling contact model is introduced for fast evaluation of the contact patch and stress distribution in the wheel-rail interface, capable of being used on-line with dynamics simulations. The normal part of the model is based on a novel approach in which the surface deformations are approximated, resulting in accurate patch and pressure estimation. The tangential part is based on an adaptation of the FASTSIM algorithm to non-elliptic patches. The new model is compared to the approximate model of Kik and Piotrowski and the results are evaluated using the rigorous solution of Kalker’s CONTACT code. The comparison clearly shows the new model to be more accurate than Kik-Piotrowski’s in terms of contact patch and stress distribution as well as creep force estimatio