Analysis of wheel/rail interaction for the development of a new tramway wheel profile

Abstract

The paper presents results of multi-body simulation analysis of the influence of wheel profile geometry on vehicle's dynamic response and finite element method analysis of contact stress in wheel material. Thermovision camera pictures of wheel/rail interface during regular operation were also captured.Performed research indicates that the most important parameter influencing tramway dynamics, including ride safety, is wheel/rail clearance. The others are: radius of flange root and shape of the wheel tread. Moreover, providing singlepoint contact between wheel and rail contributes to decrease in wear and as a consequence, maintenance cost. Riding through rail crossings involves flange tips in formation of the contact with rails.On the basis of the analysis carried out, tramway wheel profile optimization will be undertaken. The process will exploit genetic algorithm as well as finite element method and multi-body simulation software in automated loop to prepare a set of new wheel profiles and choose the ones with the best parameters for further examinations and then for supervised operation.