Numerical simulations and experimental analysis of high-speed turnout rails wear models

This study analyzed different contact theories and models for simulating rail wear in the turnout areas. The typical cross-sections of the high-speed turnout switch and frog areas are selected. Normal and tangential contact models of wheel-rail are compared. A vehicle-turnout coupling dynamic model is developed in the turnout area considering the actual rail profile, the continuous traction force, and the running resistance. In addition, different wear models, update steps, wear superposition, and filtering methods are investigated in the turnout area. A simulation program in the turnout area for rail wear damage is established and compared with experimental data. The results demonstrate that the normal semi-Hertz model and the tangential semi-Hertz-based FASTSIM algorithm suit the wheel-rail contact in the turnout area. The wear model based on wear work is selected for simulating wear in the turnout area with a updating wear step size of 0.05 mm. The proposed model provides accurate rail wear values in the turnout area compared to the traditional models.