A design tool for railway wheels incorporating damage models and dynamic simulations

There is a push to improve railway wheel integrity and reliability to lengthen the time between reprofiling, improve safety and reduce wheelset lifecycle costs. Amongst the drivers for the improvements are the current changes to vehicle mission profiles. These are leading to an increase in the severity of the loads and stresses experienced by wheels, which will increase the likelihood of damage or failure occurring due to wear or fatigue. The aim of this work was to develop a tool for use in designing wheels to cope with these demands. The model integrates advanced modelling of railway wheel dynamics and suitable damage models to predict wheel durability. A study was carried out of wear mechanisms and RCF failure modes to identify the most appropriate modelling methodologies to predict their effect on wheels under typical operating conditions and how they interact. These models were then integrated with advanced multi-body simulations of railway vehicle dynamics to create a CAE wheel design tool.