Coupling Model of Vertical and Lateral Vehicle/Track Interactions

A new dynamic model of vehicle/track interaction is presented. The model considers the vehicle and the track as a whole system and couples the vertical interaction with the lateral interaction. The vehicle subsystem is modeled as a multi-body system with 37 degrees of freedom, which runs on the track with a constant velocity. The track substructure is modeled as a discretely supported system of elastic beams representing the rails, sleepers and ballasts. The normal contact forces between wheels and rails are described by Hertzian nonlinear elastic contact theory and the tangential wheel/ rail forces are decided by the creep theory. Numerical results are compared with those of conventional dynamic models of railway vehicles. Applications of the coupling model to the investigation of safety limits against derailment due to the track twist and the combined alignment and cross-level irregularities are reported at the end of the paper.