A frictional contact finite element for wheel/rail dynamic simulations

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a simple-model moving wheel/rail contact element, so that the sticking, sliding, and separation modes of the wheel/rail contact can be appropriately simulated. In the proposed finite element, the wheel and rail are simulated using the cubic-spline contact element, and a power function normal stiffness and a constant horizontal stiffness are connected to the cubic-spline contact stiffness. The three-dimensional (3D) contact finite element analysis for a realistic wheel and rail was used to accurately model the wheel/rail contact stiffness. The validated examples show that the proposed nonlinear moving wheel element can simulate the complicated sliding, sticking, and separation contact problems with good accuracy. The complicated contact modes, including the multiple contact situation between wheel flange and rail side, can also be simulated accurately. Moreover, the computer memory and CPU time required to achieve this are much less than needed with the 3D finite element contact model.