Abstract:Through the field measurements of rail corrugation occurred on a highspeed line, a threedimensional highspeed transient wheelrail rolling contact model was established by using the explicit finite element method(FEM) to investigate the highspeed (300 km/h) wheelrail rolling behavior on corrugated rails. Solid elements were employed to mesh the wheelset and rail to take into account their actual geometries, the normal and tangential contact solutions was obtain by solving the transient rolling contact in the time domain in directions of tangent and normal between wheel and rail. Meanwhile, important components of the vehicle and rail systems were considered properly. The wheelrail rolling contact results on a smooth rail show that the steady wheelrail rolling contact on rails can be obtained by the model, which builds a basis for studies into transient rolling contact on irregularities like corrugation. The influence of the corrugation geometries, namely the wavelength and wavedepth was analyzed, the transient rolling contact behavior on the corrugation at different traction coefficients was discussed. The result shows that both the normal and tangential contact forces caucused by corrugation reach their maximums at a wavelength of 80 mm (a main corrugation wavelength observed in field), which numerically reproduces the main corrugation wavelength of the above highspeed line. With the increase of the wavedepth, the contact force is monotonically increased, but the increase rate is gradually decreased. A larger traction coefficient will lead to larger amplitudes of irregular plastic deformation and wear on the rail surface, i.e., faster corrugation initiation and growth.
